ICC profile

An ICC profile ( synonymous term: color profile ) is a standardized data set describing the color space of a color input or color reproduction device, such as a monitor, printer, scanner, etc..

The aim of color management consistently used is that a template that has been recorded with any input device, is reproduced as similar as possible on any output device.

Color management systems can vote devices such as scanners, digital cameras, monitors, printers, and film and plate together. The color is displayed according to the printing conditions, for example.

ICC is here the abbreviation for the International Color Consortium, founded in 1993, a merger of many manufacturers of graphics, image processing and layout programs to achieve a standardization of color management systems with the intention.

Color transfer

Colors that can not possibly represent the printer or monitor ( they are outside its gamut), depending on the type of ink transfer ( rendering intent ) in such a way that they are as close as possible to the original. This process is called gamut mapping. The color transfer must be deposited to the color profile as a table.

Profile classes

Content, there are mainly the following profile classes ( Classes):

  • Monitor ( mntr ): display devices such as monitors
  • Input ( scnr ): input devices such as scanners, digital cameras
  • Output ( prtr ): output devices such as inkjet printers, printing machines and printing processes.
  • Link (link): for direct billing of two similar output devices, such as two printing processes such as gravure and sheetfed offset. These profiles contain CMYK-to - CMYK tables and are described, for example, in the translation of ad artwork (especially PDF/X-3 ) used.

ICC profiling

For the color image reproduction in the image processing process, it is important to profile all devices.

Monitor profiling

Scanner profiling

Printer Profiling

Digital camera profiling

Interoperability (PCS )

Fully interoperable are color profiles with a reference to the descriptive color space to one of two standardized Contact color spaces ( Profile Connection Space, PCS), CIE * Lab or CIE * XYZ, and back. These include the profile classes Monitor ( mntr ), input ( scnr ), output ( prtr ) and single colors ( nCL2 ). These profiles can be inherently easy to combine, as opposed to device-link profiles (link).

Technical structure

According to their technical design two kinds of ICC profiles can be distinguished:

  • Matrix profiles contain 3 × 3 matrices and curve definitions for the primaries ( eg definition of a gamma curve of a screen). They are usually very small (about 1 Kbyte ) and are suitable for the description of the standard color spaces and output devices, in which the primaries are not mutually influence each other (eg monitors).
  • LUT profiles ( look-up table ) are often output profiles (ie profiles of specific devices). They are usually relatively large ( rarely under 1 MB) and contain, inter alia, a table of direct assignment of values ​​of a so-called Processing Color Space (XYZ or L * a * b * are defined) in the color space of the output device (eg CMYK printer). Complex transformations are thus possible, for example, the response of 10 - color printers.

Visual representation

2D representations, for example, dye manufacturers, often neglect the lightness axis in order to show all process colors at one time. This can lead to problems, since tones appear as being in color space, there are not. 3D models, however, can be very well visualized on the computer. Mac OS X ColorSync with an included option of Microsoft Windows XP offers the " Color Control Panel Applet " similar to the separate download. Moreover, there are, for example, the very extensive program "Color Think Pro" from Chromix for the visualization of color data.

  • ICC Examin, color profile viewer and color 3D viewer - only for Mac OS X or Linux
  • ICCView, ICC color profile as a 3D model - display in browser, requires VRML plugin
  • ICC3D, Interactive Color Correction in three Dimensions - separate Java application (current version 1.2.9 of 10 November 2003 ), also requires Java 3D, Advanced Imaging, Java Media Framework
  • Color Control Panel Applet for Windows XP Microsoft
Row (database) Electronic visual display Image editing
406619
de