Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
card in at least one representative image. That would “calibrate,” so to
speak, the capture, so the camera profile could be used. At this point, the
RAW converter would apply both this gray balance and the camera
profile to all the other images from this shooting session.
If the scene has a colorcast you wanted, such as an image pho-
tographed at sunset, this gray balancing could provide undesirable results.
Unlike scanning a single piece of film, most photographers shoot many
variations of the same scene. In order to process all those images using
the camera profile, you would need a converter that can apply the gray
balance correction and the camera profile to all the images you wish to
process. Once again, you may find that a single camera profile may fail
to be useful in this situation. It might be necessary to shoot a camera
target as the first image for each photo session and build a profile for only
those groups of images.
Some digital cameras come with host software that is fully ICC savvy
and supplied with camera profiles. Rather than produce a RAW file and
expecting you to run that data through a RAW converter, these products
process all conversions from RAW to RGB in one place. The FlexColor
software discussed in the last chapter not only controls the Imacon line
of scanners but also the Imacon line of digital camera backs. This soft-
ware operates the camera just as it does the scanner. A user can load a
supplied or custom camera profile, pick a print/output profile or a
working space profile, and shoot directly into this color space. Tools such
as levels and curves are used to control the full resolution data from the
digital camera. Although there is some RAW data being produced, we are
not aware of it since this host software controls the process of capturing
the data from the camera as well as processing the data into a RGB color
space using ICC profiles. Most of the higher end camera backs from com-
panies such as Leaf, PhaseOne, Imacon, EyeLike, Betterlight, and others
operate this way. Most DSLRs like those from Canon, Nikon, Fuji, and
Olympus either produce a processed, rendered file in one or two color
spaces or allow the cameras to produce the RAW file that will be taken
into a RAW converter.
If you are working with a camera that has a host software that handles
all the work of capturing and processing the RAW data into rendered
RGB data, and that software is ICC savvy, you have the options of con-
verting into a working space or simply tagging the data with the camera's
input profile. Saving the original RAW-to-RGB data and tagging the
camera profile to this file provides all the RGB color information the
camera was able to capture. You can later convert into an RGB working
space. Saving this original high-bit data allows the greatest flexibility just
as we saw with files from a scanner. The alternative is to have the host
software convert directly into your preferred RGB working space to save
time. Note that it's likely the original RGB color from the camera had a
larger color gamut than the working space. The choice in handling the
data is yours. If the original RAW files are available, I would recommend
