Apple Aperture 2 - Manual (Page 638)

638 Part V Appendixes and Glossary
What Is a Device Profile?
ColorSync and other color management systems use device profiles to identify and
transfer color data from one device-dependent color space, such as a camera, to
another device-dependent color space, such as a printer. Device profiles contain data
about the unique color characteristics of a device. A device’s profile includes
information about its gamut, color space, colorants, and modes of operation.
Many types of hardware and software have generic ICC profiles available in ColorSync
Utility. You can also use ColorSync Utility and a color measurement device, such as a
spectrophotometer, to accurately create your own custom device profile. When you
profile a color device, an ICC profile is created and placed in Users/username/Library/
ColorSync/Profiles/.
Once your display and printer have up-to-date custom profiles, you can begin to make
accurate color adjustments to your digital images in Aperture. Aperture uses the
ColorSync CMM, or color matching method, to translate and transfer the color data
from your camera to your display and then to your printer. Although the gamuts of the
devices are very different, ColorSync knows the exact parameters of their gamuts
because of their custom profiles. The ColorSync CMM allows you to preview how the
color in an image changes when you make color adjustments in Aperture. As long as
you have current profiles of your display and printer, the printed image will closely
match the image on the screen.
A custom device profile
for a display