Color Management and Why We Need It - Color Management for Photographers - page 43

System Folder, there is a folder called ColorSync . All ICC profiles are placed
here. One nice feature of OS9 was that profiles were automatically placed
in this correct folder when a user dragged and dropped any ICC profile
directly on top of the System Folder. OS9 would display a dialog box
informing the user that this file being moved was an ICC profile, asking
the user if the profile should automatically be placed in the ColorSync
folder. Add an alias of this folder to your ColorSync Library folder in OS
X to ensure that all old profiles are recognized by OS X.
Macintosh OS X. There are at least four locations under OS X where
profiles reside. I say at least because unlike OS9, this multiuser system is
vastly more complex. There are a minimum of three libraries on OS X:
one for the user, one main library, and the System Library . Inside each
library are folders called ColorSync that contain a folder called Profiles .
System Æ Library Æ ColorSync Æ Profiles
The OS places a few generic profiles in this location, known as the System
Library, and users are not able to remove them from this location without
proper authorization (Administrator access). My advice is to stay away
and ignore this area to make life somewhat less complicated.
The next locations have folders where ICC profiles can be placed. The
paths are as follows.
Library Æ ColorSync Æ Profiles
Profiles placed here are available to all users.
User Æ Library Æ ColorSync Æ Profiles
Profiles placed here are available only to the current logged-in user.
ICC profiles can go into either Profile folder but the differences are
this: If you place profiles in the User library, only that user who is
logged into that account will have access to the profiles. Therefore, if
you have set up OS X with multiple users and place any specific
ICC profiles in an individual user's library, only that user who is logged
in will be able to use those profiles. If, however, the profiles are
placed in the main library, all users will have access to the profiles.
This is the best location to place profiles so all users have access to the
profiles.
Network Æ Library Æ ColorSync Æ Profiles
Profiles placed in this location by a network administrator will be
available for those users logged onto this network as well as network
devices.
Other Locations for ICC Profiles
Certain applications like Photoshop place their profiles in other locations.
Adobe places the profiles that ship with Photoshop in the main Library Æ
Application Support Æ Adobe Æ Color profiles folder. Since the pro-