colourprofile

A colour profile is a set of data that describes the colour handling capabilities of a device or a file. It acts as a translation key, ensuring that colours are represented consistently across different systems and mediums. Devices like monitors, scanners, printers, and digital cameras all have their own unique way of capturing or displaying colour. A colour profile captures this unique behaviour, allowing software to interpret and convert colour data accurately.

For example, a scanner captures an image and assigns it a colour profile. When this image is displayed on a monitor, the monitor also has its own colour profile. Without proper colour management, the colours seen on the monitor might not accurately reflect the colours captured by the scanner. Colour profiles are essential for applications where colour accuracy is critical, such as graphic design, photography, and printing.

Common colour profile standards include ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles. These profiles use mathematical models to define how colours are interpreted and rendered. When you create or edit an image, it can be assigned a specific colour profile, like sRGB for web use or Adobe RGB for print. When outputting to a different device, the colour management system uses the source and destination profiles to perform a colour transformation, aiming to preserve the intended appearance of the colours. This process is known as colour management.