Digital Color Proofing -- Proof or Consequences

SWOP is just part of a much larger effort to bring some consistency and predictability to the notoriously variable printing process. The most ambitious is conversion to working in a device-independent color space as advocated by color management proponents. While calibration is a must and color management has its uses, several members of the CTP forum sent up warning flags in response to a recent posting about using ICC profiling/color management to get a better match between a halftone proofer and a press. The upshot was that, in some cases, using color management tools may alter the dots in a halftone proof, thereby compromising the proof's integrity relative to the printed sheet.