renderingsintent

Rendering intent is a concept in color management describing how colors are mapped from one color space to another when a source color lies outside the destination device’s gamut or when a particular visual outcome is desired. It is typically applied within ICC profile workflows and is selectable in image editing, proofing, and printing software to influence the appearance of colors during device-to-device transformations.

There are four commonly used rendering intents. Perceptual rendering intent compresses the entire source gamut so that relative color relationships are preserved, at the expense of exact color accuracy for some colors; it is often preferred for photographs printed on devices with smaller gamuts. Relative colorimetric rendering maps colors that are within the destination gamut exactly while clipping out-of-gamut colors to the nearest boundary; it preserves in-gamut colors and neutral tones, making it common for color-critical work where white point consistency is important. Absolute colorimetric rendering is similar to relative, but preserves the source’s white point, which is useful for proofs and for comparing colors where the background or lighting conditions matter. Saturation rendering prioritizes maintaining vividness of colors, especially in charts and business graphics, sometimes at the cost of accurate color relationships or skin tones.

Practically, the chosen rendering intent affects soft proofing, printing, and display calibration. Users select an intent based on the content and the desired balance between color accuracy, tonal relationships, and overall visual impact, taking into account device characteristics, paper, and viewing conditions.