Which ICC Profile to Use for Accurate Color Management

An ICC color profile helps you calibrate your printer/monitor to achieve a consistent color output across different devices.

These standards are established by the International Color Consortium. Acting as a translator between various devices, their primary task is to make certain that the printed and displayed colors are consistent.

Color accuracy heavily depends on which ICC profile to use. The specialists of FixThePhoto know well that even a minor color distortion in design, photography, or printing can impact the quality of the editing work.

By choosing the appropriate profile, our designers and retouchers make certain that no matter whether the project will be displayed on the screen or printed, the colors will remain true.

sRGB or standard RGB profile is the most common color space, which is widely used on the web and in consumer electronics. Although its color gamut is not so varied, it looks consistent across various screens. This is why sRGB is the default profile for most devices.

Adobe RGB has a more extensive color space, which becomes clear in sRGB vs Adobe RGB comparison. Its primary colors are greens and blues. This profile is preferable for photographers who are going to print their pics, as it can represent more vibrant and saturated colors, which can be reproduced on professional printers.

ProPhoto RGB has an even richer color range than Adobe RGB, representing virtually any color and shade that can be captured by a camera. Professional photo editors prefer this standard, as it is ideal for projects when maximum color detail is essential. However, unless handled carefully, unsatisfactory results like color misrepresentation are guaranteed.

Professional printing. Adobe RGB profile covers a greater variety of colors, which is a must if you want to print photography in exceptional quality and with vibrant colors. sRGB won’t let you achieve the rich colors in this case, so the prints might look duller than expected.

Web and digital content. As a standard for most devices and browsers, sRGB ensures consistent colors across different platforms. Take note that a broader Adobe RGB profile is not suitable in this case, as the typical monitors are likely to fail to represent the vibrancy and richness of colors, resulting in muted shades and the absence of some hues in the display’s range.

Advanced photo editing. Fine art photographers usually rely on ProPhoto RGB. The main plus of this color profile is the ability to preserve every detail, awarding editors with more flexibility when enhancing the images. If I used sRGB or even Adobe RGB, I would likely lose subtle color variations, getting not-so-high-quality pics in the output.

Mixed media projects. If I am going to demonstrate the content online and print it, I use Adobe RGB at first to preserve the deepness of colors, and then convert to sRGB to showcase the pic on the web. In such a way, it is possible to retain high color quality for prints and on screens.

Installing on Windows. The first step is to download the CC profile, which is available either in a .icc or .icm format. Then I need to right-click on the file and hit the “Install Profile” option. After that, the profile will be added to the color management settings automatically.

Installing on macOS. First, I download the ICC file and open the “Library/ColorSync/Profiles” folder to add the profile to the directory. The system then identifies the profile and makes it available in the ColorSync Utility.

Applying to monitors. The color calibration software offered by the system or third-party tools will let me perform this task. Once calibrated, I set the ICC profile as the default for my monitor. By doing so, I make sure that the colors displayed on the monitor are highly accurate, which is essential for color-critical work.

Using in Adobe Photoshop. At first, I need to set the suitable ICC profile in the Color Settings (under Edit > Color Settings) to match my workspace with the intended result. To ensure the consistency in final output, I select the right profile in the “Convert to Profile” option before exporting.

Using in Adobe Lightroom. Here, the procedure differs a bit. I choose the preferable CC profile right during the image export. But before, I chose the profile under the “Color Space” option in the Export dialog box. This guarantees that the colors in the exported pics will be properly represented following the selected profile.