-----Every time we get our eyes examined by an Optometrist, our eyes essentially get “profiled.” The doctor checks certain visual functions, and then based on the results of those tests he prescribes the appropriate strength correctional lenses to
compensate for any deficiencies he found in our eyes during his examination.
-----Scanners differ in their ability to “see” colors and tones. Some see quite well, some don’t. One thing for sure… all scanners need “glasses” to one extent or another to correct for small errors in their visual perception. These electronic glasses are called “input” profiles.
-----Just as my prescription glasses will (most likely) not correct your vision, generic scanner profiles will (most likely) not correct your scanner’s vision.
-----To carry the doctor metaphor a little further, we perform the vision exam on our scanners using specialized “profiling” software. The exam involves the scanner equivalent of an eye chart called an IT8 target.

-----By placing the chart on the scanner, and performing a routine scan (one without any special settings for color correction), we provide this software with the basic exam information. The profiling software then examines the chart and produces a profile (like human glasses) able to correct any visual misconception from that scanner.
-----Typically, scanners are not able to see some colors quite as “true” as they should. By carefully measuring the difference between the known color values from the chart and the actual captured values from the scan of the chart, the profiling software is able to re-map those colors into what they should be.
-----Thus, just as glasses correct our vision from what we actually see, to what we should see, profiles correct the vision of scanners.
-----All input (scanner) profiles are placed in the OS’s ColorSync folder (essentially, this is the “drawer” where we keep the input device’s glasses).

 

Close only counts in horseshoes.
Color reproduction ain’t horseshoes.

On a related issue go to Output Profiles

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