12 Color

Contents

• 12.1 Introduction
• 12.2 Color profile descriptions and @color-profile

12.1 Introduction

All SVG colors are specified in the sRGB color space (see [SRGB]). At a minimum, SVG user agents shall conform to the color behavior requirements specified in the Colors chapter of the CSS2 specification (see [CSS2]).

Additionally, SVG content can specify an alternate color specification using an ICC profiles (see [ICC32]). If ICC-based colors are provided and the SVG user agent support ICC color, then the ICC-based color takes precedence over the sRGB color specification.

For more on specifying color properties, refer to the descriptions of the 'fill' property and the 'stroke' property.

The 'color' property is used to provide a potential indirect value (currentColor) for the 'fill' and 'stroke' properties.

For a description of the parameters, refer to [CSS2].

12.2 Color profile descriptions and @color-profile

The International Color Consortium has established a standard, the ICC Profile [ICC32], for documenting the color characteristics of input and output devices. Using these profiles, it is possible to build a transform and correct visual data for viewing on different devices.

A color profile description provides the bridge between an ICC profile and references to that ICC profile within SVG content. The color profile description is added to the color profile database and then used to select the relevant profile. The color profile description contains descriptors for the location of the color profile on the Web, a name to reference the profile and information about rendering intent.

Color profile descriptions in CSS style sheets are specified via an @color-profile rule. The general form is:

@color-profile: { <color-profile-description> }

descriptor: value;
[...]
descriptor: value;

Each @color-profile rule specifies a value for every color profile descriptor, either implicitly or explicitly. Those not given explicit values in the rule take the initial value listed with each descriptor in this specification. These descriptors apply solely within the context of the @color-profile rule in which they are defined, and do not apply to document language elements. Thus, there is no notion of which elements the descriptors apply to, or whether the values are inherited by child elements.

The following are the descriptors for a <color-profile-description>:

sRGB

The source profile is assumed to be sRGB [SRGB]. This differs from auto in that it overrides an embedded profile inside an image.

<uri>

The name or location of a standard ICC profile resource. Due to the size of profiles, the <uri> may specify a special name representing a standard profile. The name sRGB, being the standard WWW color space, is defined separately because of its significance, although the rules regarding application of any special profile shall be identical.

<name>

The name which is used as the first parameter for icc-color specifications within 'fill', 'stroke' and 'stop-color' property values to identify the color profile to use for the ICC color specification. Note that if <name> is not provided, it will be impossible to reference the given @color-profile definition.

This property permits the specification of a color profile rendering intent other than the default. The behavior of values other than auto and inherent are defined by the International Color Consortium standard.

auto

This is the default behavior. The user-agent determines the best intent based on the content type. For image content containing an embedded profile, it shall be assumed that the intent specified within the profile is the desired intent. Otherwise, the user agent shall use the current profile (based on the color-profile style) and force the intent, overriding any intent that might be stored in the profile itself.