A critical review of binary color printing models is presented The goal is to provide an understanding of the application of color printer models as a component for device profiles within a color management system A short description of a modem color management system is presented followed by a brief explanation of the halftoning process. This leads into the discussion of the individual models, which takes an historical approach. The discussion starts with early models proposed in the 1930s by Murray, followed by Neugebauer, Yule and Nielsen, and other much more recent model forms. To aid in gathering the appropriate data far printer modeling, experimental techniques are then discussed followed by an explanation of the model optimization methods needed for parameter fitting. The review concludes with procedures for model evaluation and a presentation of the results from an application of the models to a sample dataset for an electrophotographic printer. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.