Color characterizations of printing situations are essential for a correct color reproduction. To obtain a good color characterization, knowledge about the substrate, the printing process and the printer function are all of great importance. In this thesis, methods for color characterization of printing situations are proposed and the problems associated with the transfer of color characterization methods from spectrophotometers to flatbed scanners are extensively studied. All methods have been developed with bearing on digital printing technologies, although they can be applied to any printing system. Special emphasis has been put on the influence of paper properties in printing situations and image capturing of printed substrates.