Spot color preflight for extended gamut printing

A method, comprising:

• receiving a print job into a print engine supporting colorant extensions for a standard color gamut, said print engine comprising a processor, said print job comprising callouts for spot colors;
• computing, by said processor, said spot colors using said standard color gamut, producing a first list of in-gamut spot colors and out-of-gamut spot colors;
• computing, by said processor, said spot colors using said standard color gamut with each gamut colorant extension supported by said print engine, producing second lists of in-gamut spot colors and out-of-gamut spot colors;
• presenting, by said processor, said lists of in-gamut spot colors and out-of-gamut spot colors on a user interface connected to said processor;
• and
• receiving, by said processor, selection of a gamut extension colorant for use in said print job.

A printing system, comprising:

• a print engine supporting a standard color gamut and a limited number of physical receptacles for colorant extension attachments that can be used in addition to said standard color gamut;
• a processor connected to said print engine;
• and
• a user interface connected to said processor,
• said print engine receiving a print job comprising callouts for spot colors,
• said processor parsing said print job and creating a first list of spot colors in said print job,
• said processor computing a first set of spot colors using said standard color gamut, producing in-gamut spot colors and out-of-gamut spot colors for said first set of spot colors,
• said processor computing second sets of spot colors using said standard color gamut with each gamut colorant extension supported by said print engine, producing in-gamut spot colors and out-of-gamut spot colors for said second sets of spot colors,
• said processor calculating gamut distances for said out-of-gamut spot colors from said first set of spot colors and said second sets of spot colors,
• said processor creating second lists of said spot colors for said in-gamut spot colors and said out-of-gamut spot colors,
• said processor presenting said second lists of said spot colors on said user interface, said second lists indicating which spot colors are in-gamut and which are out-of-gamut and indicating said gamut distance for each out-of-gamut spot color, and
• said processor receiving selection of one of said second lists for use in said print job.