Building Camera Profiles - Color Management for Photographers - page 168

The bottom line is you need to know what EXIF data is being saved in your camera files if you
don't capture and use RAW files. If you set the camera for a specific color matrix for a processed
JPEG (or similar file), you will need to assign the correct profile upon opening the document in
Photoshop.
RAW
Assuming the camera is not set for a predefined RGB color space, that
leaves us with RAW data for processing and eventual profile creation.
RAW really is raw. It's the basic data the sensor captures in a form waiting
to become a color image. Some, myself included, have used the analogy
of comparing a RAW camera file to a color negative and the processed
RGB data as a transparency. A RAW file, like a color negative, has a lot
of latitude in how the resulting color is produced. The RAW file needs to
be processed using a RAW converter, and each converter will handle the
conversion differently, at least with default settings. Put little faith in
these default settings; they in no way reflect how well a job the converter
is capable of.
Obviously, the RAW file has to be converted into some RGB data if
we are to produce an ICC profile. We can't profile the RAW itself, only
the resulting RGB data, so the conversion from RAW is a critical compo-
nent in this process. Some RAW converters such as PhaseOne's Capture 1
software allow users to process RAW data while using ICC profiles for
preview and conversions. Other products ignore ICC color management
entirely so, once the data is processed from RAW, a profile needs to be
created and assigned. This is functionally similar to the discussion of
locking down a scanner into a fixed behavior for profiling when the
scanner driver doesn't understand ICC profiles. The RAW converter has
to allow the user to lock down its conversion settings, as any type of auto-
matic RAW conversion will be impossible to profile.
Yet another option is using a product like Adobe Camera RAW . This
product allows users to process the data into one of four standardized
RGB working spaces as seen in Fig. 5-5. Input profiles are unnecessary
as this is all handed by Adobe Camera RAW . A great deal of debate on this
subject has been seen on the various color web sites with once again, two
distant sides to the issues. I'll discuss Adobe Camera RAW in detail later.
The important consideration here is whether to shoot RAW and if so,
Fig. 5-5 Adobe Camera
RAW supports these four
RGB working spaces,
ranging from sRGB to
ProPhoto RGB.