ISO 17972-1:2015

Graphic technology - Colour data exchange format - Part 1: Relationship to CxF3 (CxF/X)

ISO17972-1:2015 defines an exchange format for colour and process control data (and the associated metadata necessary for its proper interpretation) in electronic form. It is the base document for describing the use of CxF3 for data exchange. Where required, this part of ISO 17972 also defines additional requirements for a valid CxF/X file. Using XML, all CxF3 and CxF/X documents also support the exchange of data outside of the graphic arts workflow and can support future standards with an extensible architecture using standard XML Names and Metadata tags which can be used with standard XML tools and pass XML validation. Additional parts of ISO 17972 will use custom resources in conjunction with CxF3 to define the required and optional data for a particular workflow.

Technologie graphique — Format d'échange des données en couleur — Partie 1: Relation avec le CxF3 (CxF/X)

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 23-Apr-2015
• ICS: 35.240.30 - IT applications in information, documentation and publishing
• ICS: 37.100.99 - Other standards related to graphic technology
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 130 - Graphic technology
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 130/WG 2 - Prepress data exchange
• Parallel Committee: ISO/TC 6/SC 2 - Test methods and quality specifications for paper and board
• Current Stage: 9093 - International Standard confirmed
• Start Date: 15-Dec-2025
• Completion Date: 27-Dec-2025

Overview

ISO 17972-1:2015 - Graphic technology - Colour data exchange format - Part 1: Relationship to CxF3 (CxF/X) defines a standardized, XML-based exchange format for colour data, process control data, and the associated metadata needed for unambiguous interpretation. Built on the publicly available Color Exchange Format (CxF) version 3 (CxF3), this part establishes base requirements for files that conform to CxF/X and enables interoperable data exchange across the graphic arts and adjacent workflows.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Base format: Uses CxF3 (XML) as the core representation; files typically use the “.cxf” extension and must include the CxF3 core namespace.
• FileInformation: A valid CxF/X file must contain Creator, CreationDate, and Description. The Description must include “CxF/X” and the applicable ISO part number. If used to support an ISO standard, the standard number should appear in Comment text.
• Resources (CxF3 Core): Central elements describe color objects (Objects), ColorSpecification, ColorValue, DeviceColorValue, ColorValues, DeviceColorValues, and PhysicalAttributes.
• CustomResources: Extensible area for application-specific metadata so files remain backward compatible with automated readers.
• Validation and schema: CxF/X files shall validate against the specified schema (sA3); CxF3_Core.xsd and supporting schema/diagram files are provided as electronic attachments.
• Mapping from legacy formats: Annex A maps ISO 28178 (ASCII keyword-value) to CxF elements to aid migration; guidance to preserve existing workflows is included.
• Extensibility & XML tooling: Uses standard XML names and metadata tags, enabling standard XML validation, parsing, multilingual support, and web-ready representations.

Applications and users

• Practical uses:
  • Exchange of measured and computed color data for prepress, proofing, and production verification.
  • Spot color characterization, scanner and printer target data exchange (other ISO 17972 parts expand these uses).
  • Automated process control, archival of color measurement manifests, and vendor-neutral data interchange.
• Typical users:
  • Color management engineers, prepress specialists, print service providers.
  • Software developers of RIPs, MIS, color QC tools, and laboratory information systems.
  • Standards bodies and quality assurance teams needing validated, machine-readable color data exchange.

Related standards

• ISO 28178 (legacy ASCII color exchange mapping)
• ISO 12642 and ISO 13655 (workflow and measurement reporting context)
• Other parts of ISO 17972 (Part 4: CxF/X-4 for spot color; Parts 2 & 3 under development for scanner/printer targets)

ISO 17972-1:2015 streamlines accurate, extensible color data exchange using CxF3 and XML, promoting interoperability and automated color quality control across graphic technology workflows.

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 17972-1
First edition
2015-05-01
Graphic technology — Colour data
exchange format —
Part 1:
Relationship to CxF3 (CxF/X)
Technologie graphique — Format d’échange des données en couleur —
Partie 1: Relation avec le CxF3 (CxF/X)
Reference number
©
ISO 2015
© ISO 2015
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
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Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
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Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2015 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
3.1 Terms . 1
3.2 Definitions . 2
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 2
5 Requirements . 3
5.1 CxF/X specific requirements . 3
5.2 General description of a Color Exchange Format conforming file . 3
5.2.1 General. 3
5.2.2 FileInformation . 4
5.2.3 Resources . 4
5.2.4 Example CxF file structure . 6
5.2.5 CustomResources . 7
5.3 Document Format . 8
5.3.1 General. 8
5.3.2 CxF 3.0 Major Schema Elements . 8
5.3.3 Object . 8
5.3.4 ColorValues . 9
5.3.5 DeviceColorValues . 9
5.3.6 PhysicalAttributes . . . 9
Annex A (informative) Color Exchange Format mapping to ISO 28178.10
Annex B (informative) CxF3 Schema .14
Annex C (informative) Use Cases .15
Bibliography .17
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any
patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on
the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary Information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 130, Graphic technology.
ISO 17972 consists of the following parts, under the general title Graphic technology — Colour data
exchange format (CxF/X):
— Part 1: Relationship to CxF3(CxF/X)
— Part 4: Spot color characterisation data (CxF/X-4)
The following parts are under development:
— Part 2: Scanner target data (CxF/X-2)
— Part 3: Printer target data (CxF/X-3)
iv © ISO 2015 – All rights reserved

Introduction
ISO 17972 (all parts) defines methods for the use of CxF3 to exchange measurement data and associated
metadata within the graphic arts industry and for the exchange of these files between graphic arts users.
It is a multi-part document where each part is intended to respond to different workflow requirements.
The goal throughout the various parts of ISO 17972 has been to maintain the degree of flexibility
required while minimizing the uncertainty of the data exchanged.
A number of International Standards used by the graphic technology community require the reporting
of measured and/or computed data. Several of these standards, e.g. ISO 12642 and ISO 13655, have
used the ASCII keyword-value pair approach and have been widely used by some industry segments.
However, there has been a large degree of variability in implementation, which has not facilitated good
automated data exchange creating uncertainty. ISO 28178 attempted to rectify this situation by creating
a bridge between the ASCII Keywords approach and an XML flat file approach, but the flat file approach
had limitations and has not been widely used. This part of ISO 17972 advances this process further
by identifying the use of the publicly available Color Exchange Format version 3 (CxF3) for prepress
data exchange and verification. In order to achieve a level of exchange that avoids any ambiguity in
interpretation of the file. Each part defines a required and optional set of CxF elements that are permitted
to be used. This first document will outline the mapping of CxF to the existing elements in ISO 28178
(provided in Annex A) and illustrate the underlying concepts of CxF.
NOTE X-Rite Inc., the original creator of the CxF file format, claims no intellectual property rights to
the materials used in this part of ISO 17972.
This part of ISO 17972 is intended to support all existing and future graphic arts standards that require
the exchange of measured, computed, or process control data and the associated metadata necessary
for its proper interpretation.
In reviewing the needs of such a format, the following requirements were identified:
— existing applications using ISO 28178 formatted documents in ASCII format should not be rendered
obsolete by the new standard;
— data needs to be in a form that is both human-readable (once the digital file has been displayed
using standard editors or file readers) and machine-readable;
— data needs to be readable by automated programs to extract the necessary information;
— data files need to be extensible by end users in such a way as to allow additional information to be
included without breaking automated readers of the file;
— data files need to be capable of being created by automated programs;
— the format needs to allow multiple language representation of data.
The following files are part of ISO 17972-1, and are included as electronic inserts:
— CxF3_Core.xsd;
— CxF3_Schema_Diagram.pdf;
— Scannertarget.cxf;
— Scannertarget.txt;
— Holidays_test.cxf.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 17972-1:2015(E)
Graphic technology — Colour data exchange format —
Part 1:
Relationship to CxF3 (CxF/X)
1 Scope
This part of ISO 17972 defines an exchange format for colour and process control data (and the
associated metadata necessary for its proper interpretation) in electronic form. It is the base document
for describing the use of CxF3 for data exchange. Where required, this part of ISO 17972 also defines
additional requirements for a valid CxF/X file. Using XML, all CxF3 and CxF/X documents also support
the exchange of data outside of the graphic arts workflow and can support future standards with an
extensible architecture using standard XML Names and Metadata tags which can be used with standard
XML tools and pass XML validation.
Additional parts of ISO 17972 will use custom resources in conjunction with CxF3 to define the required
and optional data for a particular workflow.
2 Normative references
1)
Color Exchange Format v3.0 documents
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1 Terms
NOTE The spelling of terms taken from Color Exchange Format v3.0 is not altered from that used in the
normative reference. A specific example is the word color instead of colour.
3.1.1
ColorSpecification
information about the ColorValue (3.1.2) including its source (measurement specifications),
illuminant/observer calculation method (tristimulus specifications), and physical attributes of the
objects (3.1.5) (size, quantity, finish, etc.)
[SOURCE: Color Exchange Format v3.0]
3.1.2
ColorValue
one of a number of defined colour space types that can hold values and associated information related
to that specific type of device independent colour space
[SOURCE: Color Exchange Format v3.0]
1) Available at http://www.colorexchangeformat.com.
3.1.3
CustomResources
“extensible” part of CxF3 (3.2.2); additional information not included in the CxF3 Core about colour
objects and the file itself that is considered application specific in nature and not generally of use to all
other applications“
[SOURCE: Color Exchange Format v3.0]
3.1.4
DeviceColorValue
one of a number of defined colour space types that can hold values and associated information related
to that specific type of device dependent colour space
[SOURCE: Color Exchange Format v3.0]
3.1.5
Object
used to identify each specific “Colour item” that is being described
3.2 Definitions
3.2.1
CxF/X
CxF3 (3.2.2) file which also conforms to the requirements defined in this part of ISO 17972
3.2.2
CxF3
exchange format for colour and process control data defined in Color Exchange Format v3
3.2.3
profile
set of mathematical values or binary structure that allows transformation to/from one device colour
space to another; profiles are stored in the ProfileCollection and are shared and referenced by the
ColorValues (3.1.2)
3.2.4
resources
information about each colour object that is of interest to all readers of the CxF file
Note 1 to entry: This is also referred to as the “CxF3 Core”. It is defined by the CxF3-Core namespace schema.
3.2.5
schema
XML document conforming to the specifications established by the World Wide Web Consortium that
defines the structure of a class of XML documents
3.2.6
XML
Extensible Markup Language; a set of rules for encoding documents electronically
3.2.7
XSD
XML schema definition
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
The following documentation conventions are used.
— Names of XML elements are shown in bold type, for example, Resources.
2 © ISO 2015 – All rights reserved

— Names of XML attributes are shown in italics, for example, SpotColorName.
— XML XPaths are used to identify XML elements. For example, container/contained refers to an
element (contained) that is a child of another element (container).
— Similarly, XML XPaths are used to refer to XML attributes, for example, element1/@Name refers to
an attribute (Name) of an element (element1).
5 Requirements
5.1 CxF/X specific requirements
A CxF/X file shall comply with all of the requirements specified in CxF3. It shall also comply with any
additional requirements specified in this or other parts of ISO 17972. These may include required
Resources or restrictions on the use of Resources or specification of CustomResources.
— The FileInformation element of a CxF/X file shall include Creator, CreationDate, and Description.
— The Description element of a CxF/X file shall include “CxF/X” and the number of the applicable
International Standard with which the CxF/X file complies.
— If the file is to be used in support of an International Standard, it shall include the number of the
International Standard in the Comment text.
A CxF/X file shall validate against the sA3 Schema (see Annex B). A CxF/X file that is converted from
an ISO 28178 compliant text file should use Table A.1 to map the textual data into CxF/X elements and
attributes. Additional parts of ISO 17972 can provide additional requirements for exchanging data from
previous standards including ISO 28178.
NOTE The spelling of terms and elements taken from Color Exchange Format v3.0 are not altered from that
used in the normative reference. A specific example is the word color instead of colour.
5.2 General description of a Color Exchange Format conforming file
5.2.1 General
The standard Color Exchange Format as presented in the CxF 3.0 captures file Information such as
creation and ownership, core colour information (the Resources), and any extended information
(CustomResources). A CxF document shall have the extension “.cxf”. A CxF/X file should use the extension
“.cxf” for ease of file mapping with exising CxF aware applications.”
By using XML which is a standard for the digital representation of documents, CxF also speeds and
simplifies the movement and reporting of data from its database collection to a web-ready representation.
A common data exchange format used in the graphic arts is defined in ISO 28178:2008. Annex A provides
the mapping from ISO 28178 to CxF (see 5.1 for additional requirements in using this for a CxF/X file).
A CxF3 file shall be structured as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 — CxF3 file structure
Every valid Color Exchange Format document shall contain, at a minimum, the required namespace
information in the root CxF element.
().
In addition, it can include FileInformation, Resources, and CustomResources. Further information on
FileInformation is given in 5.2.2, on Resources in 5.2.3, and on CustomResources in 5.2.5.
NOTE CxF file structure diagrams use XML symbology.
5.2.2 FileInformation
This element contains the header data for a Color Exchange Format container that supports workflow
management. Elements include the following:
— Creator - Name of the data creator, for example, program name used to generate file, company
name, etc.;
— CreationDate - Date and time of the creation of this Color Exchange Format file. Date time format is
CCYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.SSSZ. Optional time zone can be specified either as UTC or UTC offset;
— Description – Of the file or a data manifest;
— Comment – User entered comment for additional information;
— Tag(s) – Any named tag/value pairs for additional metadata regarding this file.
A valid CxF/X file shall have Creator, CreationDate, and Description in FileInformation. CxF/X and the
applicable part shall be included in the Description. If the file is to be used in compliance with an ISO
Standard, it shall include the standard number in the
...