Colour Management for photographers

Colour management is a process where the colour characteristics for every device in the imaging chain is known precisely so that they can be utilised to better predict and control the colour reproduction of the final image. For digital photography, this imaging chain usually starts with the camera and concludes with the final print. It may include a display device in between, such as your computer. There are many different imaging chains that exist but in general, any device which attempts to reproduce colour from another device can benefit from colour management. Of course, colour management cannot guarantee identical colour reproduction, as this is rarely possible, but it can at least give you more control over any changes which may occur during the process. There is however, one key problem with colour reproduction and that is that different colour numbers do not necessarily produce the same colour in all of the devices being used. Many computers colour manage using a similar principle as colour management requires a personalised colour table for every device used, which associates each number with a measured colour. This way, when a computer tries to communicate colours with another device, it does not simply send across some numbers, it also specifies how these numbers are intended to appear. What happens then is that colour-managed software can then take this profile into account and adjust the numbers sent to the device accordingly, therefore creating more realistic and precise colours in the image. The International Colour Consortium (ICC) was established in 1993 to create an open, standardised colour management system which is now used in most computers. This system has three main concepts which are; colour profiles, colour spaces, and translation between colour spaces. A colour space is what relates the numbers to actual colours and these can show you whether you will be able to retain details such as the shadow/highlight detail, colour saturation, and also by how much either of these will be compromised. The color profile keeps track of what colors are produced for a particular device and its assigned numbers. It then maps these colors and records them.

A useful process for perfecting the colours in your image is colour management. It’s important to remember however that colour management cannot guarantee identical colour reproduction. If you are interested in photography and you are looking to purchase a digital camera, it’s worth comparing the prices of different cameras and this is easily done if you shop online

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