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[OT] Color Management Profiling

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Paul Waldo

[OT] Color Management Profiling

Hi all,

Hopefully this is not too off-topic...

I have vowed to get Color Management into my workflow, but I am having
some conceptual issues. Hopefully someone can right me ... :-)

I have a Canon Digital Rebel camera and have purchased an IT 8.7/2
target. My plan is to photograph the target and create a profile for
the camera using lprof. That got me to thinking about White Balance
settings and how they relate to a profile. It seems to me that target
and profile are only accurate for some specific lighting setup. If this
is so, and if I understand CM correctly, it makes for some disturbing
implications:

* I need a specific profile for each WB setting (sunny, cloudy,
incandescent, etc.)
* I need to capture the target once for each WB setting, and the
lighting has to match WB (eg. must wait for a cloud to pass over
before snapping that Cloudy WB target pic)
* Camera, Manual and Auto WB cannot have a profile, because software
(on the computer or camera) dynamically adjusts the WB in
unpredictable ways.
* When taking a photo, I must manually set the WB and then use the
correct profile when converting it.
* As a scene deviates from the ideal for a given WB setting, the
conversion will become less accurate. For example an outdoor
scene that is bright and sunny, except for the cloud that is
casting a shadow over the main subject. Neither Sunny, Cloudy nor
Shadow WB settings would be totally approriate.

Somebody please tell me I have a fundamental flaw in my logic! If not
this becomes quite a cumbersome system to use!

So now that I have the input device problems off my chest, we come to
the output device, an Epson Stylus Photo Pro 1280. I need a profile for
this printer, but I don't know where to get one. Epson provides ICC
profiles for this printer *when printing with ColorLife paper*. There
is no profile for any other type of paper, such as Matte Heavyweight.
It is my guess that, even if Epson did provide profiles, they would not
be accurate because they would be created using their Windows driver. I
use Kubuntu Linux and gimp-print.

So, the questions are:

* Is there a printer profile for my setup
* If there is not, is this a weak enough link in the chain that
going through the trouble of profiling all of my other devices is
not worth it?

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!

Paul
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piotr_tarnowski

Odp: [OT] Color Management Profiling

Paul,

for me it is not common to profile DSLR but if you would like you
probably should profile RAW image using best light source possible
(north window sun?)
White balance should be applied on image with applied profile so camera
white balancing is not a case.

In theory you need printer profile for any combination of
paper/ink/GuttenPrint settings,(I have one for my best settings and use
it for draft as well).
You can do profile by printing downloaded pattern, sending this printout
to someone who can measure profile and downloading your profile. Often
you can check results before you pay by downloading your sample photo
converted by ICC provieder. One profile costs c.a. $40 + 1 or 2 A4 pages
of print.
Some more details about preparing printer for profiling here:
http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/profiling.shtml

Hope this will help, even if OT :)
Piotr Tarnowski

Dnia 3-01-2008 o godz. 19:29 Paul Waldo napisał(a):

> Hi all,
>
> Hopefully this is not too off-topic...
>
> I have vowed to get Color Management into my workflow, but I am having
> some conceptual issues. Hopefully someone can right me ... :-)
>
> I have a Canon Digital Rebel camera and have purchased an IT 8.7/2
> target. My plan is to photograph the target and create a profile for
> the camera using lprof. That got me to thinking about White Balance
> settings and how they relate to a profile. It seems to me that target
> and profile are only accurate for some specific lighting setup. If this
> is so, and if I understand CM correctly, it makes for some disturbing
> implications:
>
> * I need a specific profile for each WB setting (sunny, cloudy,
> incandescent, etc.)
> * I need to capture the target once for each WB setting, and the
> lighting has to match WB (eg. must wait for a cloud to pass over
> before snapping that Cloudy WB target pic)
> * Camera, Manual and Auto WB cannot have a profile, because software
> (on the computer or camera) dynamically adjusts the WB in
> unpredictable ways.
> * When taking a photo, I must manually set the WB and then use the
> correct profile when converting it.
> * As a scene deviates from the ideal for a given WB setting, the
> conversion will become less accurate. For example an outdoor
> scene that is bright and sunny, except for the cloud that is
> casting a shadow over the main subject. Neither Sunny, Cloudy nor
> Shadow WB settings would be totally approriate.
>
> Somebody please tell me I have a fundamental flaw in my logic! If not
> this becomes quite a cumbersome system to use!
>
>
>
> So now that I have the input device problems off my chest, we come to
> the output device, an Epson Stylus Photo Pro 1280. I need a profile for
> this printer, but I don't know where to get one. Epson provides ICC
> profiles for this printer *when printing with ColorLife paper*. There
> is no profile for any other type of paper, such as Matte Heavyweight.
> It is my guess that, even if Epson did provide profiles, they would not
> be accurate because they would be created using their Windows driver. I
> use Kubuntu Linux and gimp-print.
>
> So, the questions are:
>
> * Is there a printer profile for my setup
> * If there is not, is this a weak enough link in the chain that
> going through the trouble of profiling all of my other devices is
> not worth it?
>
>
> Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!
>
> Paul
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

----------------------------------------------------
Najmroczniejsze czasy Anglii były dniami chwały jej królowej.
Nominowana do Złotego Globu Cate Blanchett w filmie
ELIZABETH: ZŁOTY WIEK - w kinach od 11 stycznia!
http://klik.wp.pl/?adr=http%3A%2F%2Fcorto.www.wp.pl%2Fas%2Felizabeth.html&sid=164

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Paul Waldo

Re: Odp: [OT] Color Management Profiling

Thanks for the reply, Piotr. I think I will contact the profiling service you
mentioned. They seem to be far and away the least expensive.

The problem with only using one profile (as I understand it) is that different
white balance settings alter color's relationships differently. For example
(and purely hypothetically), a Sunny WB might depress the red, a Cloudy WB
might accentuate the red, and the Auto WB might only slightly accentuate the
red *and* depress the blue. If this is the case, accurate color rendition of
the RAW file would require a profile for each...

Paul

On Thursday 03 January 2008 5:04:10 pm Piotr Tarnowski wrote:

> Paul,
>
> for me it is not common to profile DSLR but if you would like you
> probably should profile RAW image using best light source possible
> (north window sun?)
> White balance should be applied on image with applied profile so camera
> white balancing is not a case.
>
> In theory you need printer profile for any combination of
> paper/ink/GuttenPrint settings,(I have one for my best settings and use
> it for draft as well).
> You can do profile by printing downloaded pattern, sending this printout
> to someone who can measure profile and downloading your profile. Often
> you can check results before you pay by downloading your sample photo
> converted by ICC provieder. One profile costs c.a. $40 + 1 or 2 A4 pages
> of print.
> Some more details about preparing printer for profiling here:
> http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/profiling.shtml
>
> Hope this will help, even if OT :)
> Piotr Tarnowski
>
> Dnia 3-01-2008 o godz. 19:29 Paul Waldo napisał(a):
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Hopefully this is not too off-topic...
> >
> > I have vowed to get Color Management into my workflow, but I am having
> > some conceptual issues. Hopefully someone can right me ... :-)
> >
> > I have a Canon Digital Rebel camera and have purchased an IT 8.7/2
> > target. My plan is to photograph the target and create a profile for
> > the camera using lprof. That got me to thinking about White Balance
> > settings and how they relate to a profile. It seems to me that target
> > and profile are only accurate for some specific lighting setup. If this
> > is so, and if I understand CM correctly, it makes for some disturbing
> > implications:
> >
> > * I need a specific profile for each WB setting (sunny, cloudy,
> > incandescent, etc.)
> > * I need to capture the target once for each WB setting, and the
> > lighting has to match WB (eg. must wait for a cloud to pass over
> > before snapping that Cloudy WB target pic)
> > * Camera, Manual and Auto WB cannot have a profile, because software
> > (on the computer or camera) dynamically adjusts the WB in
> > unpredictable ways.
> > * When taking a photo, I must manually set the WB and then use the
> > correct profile when converting it.
> > * As a scene deviates from the ideal for a given WB setting, the
> > conversion will become less accurate. For example an outdoor
> > scene that is bright and sunny, except for the cloud that is
> > casting a shadow over the main subject. Neither Sunny, Cloudy nor
> > Shadow WB settings would be totally approriate.
> >
> > Somebody please tell me I have a fundamental flaw in my logic! If not
> > this becomes quite a cumbersome system to use!
> >
> >
> >
> > So now that I have the input device problems off my chest, we come to
> > the output device, an Epson Stylus Photo Pro 1280. I need a profile for
> > this printer, but I don't know where to get one. Epson provides ICC
> > profiles for this printer *when printing with ColorLife paper*. There
> > is no profile for any other type of paper, such as Matte Heavyweight.
> > It is my guess that, even if Epson did provide profiles, they would not
> > be accurate because they would be created using their Windows driver. I
> > use Kubuntu Linux and gimp-print.
> >
> > So, the questions are:
> >
> > * Is there a printer profile for my setup
> > * If there is not, is this a weak enough link in the chain that
> > going through the trouble of profiling all of my other devices is
> > not worth it?
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!
> >
> > Paul
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digikam-users mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Najmroczniejsze czasy Anglii były dniami chwały jej królowej.
> Nominowana do Złotego Globu Cate Blanchett w filmie
> ELIZABETH: ZŁOTY WIEK - w kinach od 11 stycznia!
> http://klik.wp.pl/?adr=http%3A%2F%2Fcorto.www.wp.pl%2Fas%2Felizabeth.html&s
>id=164
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
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