Patent ID: 7233413

Claim:
A computer-readable medium containing a program for configuring a digital computer to perform a method for comparing a first color gamut able to be produced by a color generating apparatus upon a given medium with a second color gamut, the method comprising the steps of: a) using a first collection of sample color points to create a first hull in the color space, each sample color point in the first collection defining a location in at least a three-dimensional color space and corresponding to a color in the first color gamut, the set of all of the points disposed on the surface of the first hull or within the volume enclosed thereby representing the first color gamut, all of the color points in the first collection of sample color points being disposed on the surface of the hull or within the volume defined thereby; b) using a second collection of sample color points to create a second hull in the color space, each sample color point in the second collection defining a location in at least a three-dimensional color space and corresponding to a color in the second color gamut, the set of all of the points disposed on the surface of the second hull or within the volume enclosed thereby representing the second color gamut, all of the color points in the second collection of sample color points being disposed on the surface of the second hull or within the volume defined thereby; and c) combining the first and second hulls thereby to create a third hull in the color space representing the region of overlap or the region of exclusion between the first color gamut and the second color gamut, wherein the combining step is implemented using a calculation, and further wherein when the third hull represents the region of overlap, each point disposed on the surface of the third hull or within the volume enclosed thereby represents a color within both the first and the second color gamuts, and when the third hull represents the region of exclusion, each point disposed on the surface of the third hull or within the volume enclosed thereby represents a color within the first gamut but not within the second gamut.