Real World Color Management, Second Edition

7. Building Input Profiles: Starting Out Right

To get the color you want, you first have to know what that color is. The fundamental role that input profiles play is to tell the CMS what that color is. We must stress upfront that input profiles don’t automatically give you great color or remove the need for color correction—they just tell the CMS what colors your capture device sees. So a good input profile will faithfully render the dark and murky appearance of an underexposed image or the washed-out appearance of an overexposed one.

Moreover, some types of input are difficult-to-impossible to profile. Digital cameras shot in the field rather than the studio are difficult to profile because the light source is all over the place. Color negative ...