Safari and Firefox 3, What do they have in common?
In a couple words? Advanced color management. What does this have to say for the way the web has evolved? It’s something we all knew inately, something so simple yet so profound. Looks are important. Magazines, catalogs, and product placement people have spent thousands on making sure their pictures are beautiful and accurately show the product they are selling. Then along came the web. Sure it’s convenient, but this picture they spent thousands on getting just right for press now suddenly looks dull and lifeless on the web. It sure makes advertising less slick, and it presents harsh realities for web designers. Have you ever designed a graphic to blend in with a color only to have the browser change it on you? You can tell the difference between the graphic and the web elements pretty easily.
It only goes to show how powerful the pull is for visually appealing graphics. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with the new Safari, so I don’t know if it addressed any of my gripes. As a photographer, I am quite happy with this turn of events. Black and white is not always just black and white. There are toners out there to provide some color and make the picture even more interesting. These subtle changes are lost without good color management.
It’s not surprising that something like this would come from Apple. Apple has always catered to the creative professional. It’s the one market that has supported them through the years. However, it is somewhat surprising coming from Firefox. What would geeks have to know about color management and what it can do for you? I’m sure it has to with the fact that they are supporting several different platforms and the web pages look different on each one. It’s not just the default gamma level (for Macs it is 1.8 and for PCs it is 2.2, and Linux depends). It’s the whole color management thing.
Assuming IE 8 follows suit (it’ll be IE 9 if it isn’t 8), this will help make the web a more appreciated place. It’s easier to look professional when you can expect a standard way of showing off your work to everyone around the globe. The web isn’t just about text. It’s also about looking good.
