Remove ICC named color profiles

[svgeesus]

Currently, the color() function when used with a color profile accepts either numeric parameters or string parameters. The latter is for use with named color profiles. These are not well supported (It took me quite a while to find an actual live example for testing), are not allowed in PDF (for CSS to PDF generators) and, for the simple use case of expressing a palette of named colors, CSS Custom Properties aka CSS Variables are an easier and more CSS-like way to produce that palette.

So this is a proposal to remove them from the spec:

• the color() property would be simplified, the whole part about string parameters would be removed
• the @color-profile would not be allowed to link to them (related discussion at [css-color] profiled colors can be device-independent #6024 (comment))

Instead I would add an example of using CSS Custom properties to specify a palette of colors.

[faceless2]

Great idea.

As I think I've mentioned elsewhere, if we have a named-color ICC profile, we can certainly pull the content out of it and turn it into something we could legitimately put into PDF. But like you, we had to do a proper hunt to find just a single example to test with.

Also as mentioned elsewhere, I think the current syntax is limiting in that it doesn't allow you to specify how much of this special color you want - I can specify a CMYK color with 50% cyan, but the syntax means I can't specify a color that's 50% "Pantone Reflex Blue". So I'm all for dropping this now, before anyone (else) implements it, to allow us to dream up a better solution.

[svgeesus]

before anyone (else) implements it

Yes, sorry and thanks for your impressive efforts here.

the current syntax is limiting in that it doesn't allow you to specify how much of this special color you want - I can specify a CMYK color with 50% cyan, but the syntax means I can't specify a color that's 50% "Pantone Reflex Blue"

Part of that is getting into Separation / DeviceN color support but yes, if we have a way to colorimetrically specify a named color, then we also need a way to mix it with other colors (including white, to get a tint). I hope color-mix() can help there.

Without knowing things like the dot gain, screening pattern, etc we can't know what measured color 50% "Pantone Reflex Blue" corresponds to.

[Crissov]

Just for the record, #817 was dismissed because what I sought there was (at least in theory) already possible with ICC profiles that specified named colors.

[svgeesus]

Yeah, I know, in part.

Also because you can do it wth CSS Custom Properties, and because of licensing issues and severe under-specifying issues.

[tabatkins]

I'm definitely also in support of this simply for the simplification in data model it implies for Typed OM. I'd be happy to work with it if there were good use-cases, but if there's not, let's toss it, please.