User Manual
Congratulations on the purchase of your ColorChecker Passport. You’ve entered a powerful new world of effortless color control and creative finesse for your RAW workflow. You’ll be able to quickly and easily capture accurate color, instantly enhance portraits and landscapes and maintain color control from capture to edit. You’ll get expert color results in a fraction of the time.
The Software ..................................................................................................... 19 Raw Processing Applications ..................................................................................................................... 19 Adobe Photoshop................................................................................................................................... 19 ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application.............................................
ColorChecker Passport ColorChecker Passport is a unique solution for any photographer looking for accurate, consistent color and creative flexibility – especially those working in RAW format.
Why Color Management? Before we get into detail about how to use ColorChecker Passport, it’s important to understand a little about Color Management and how this tool fits into a color managed workflow. The art of color management is all about getting your colors to match from input to output. That means your camera captures true colors, your monitor displays them accurately, and your printer produces a photo that is true to the original scene.
Camera Calibration and DNG Profiles It all begins with the camera. If it doesn’t capture accurate color, how can you expect realistic reproduction? The challenge lies in the fact that different cameras “see” color differently, and the way they capture it varies from brand to brand. Different lenses have different color characteristics, which creates a bigger problem when you start mixing camera and lens brands.
Color Management in a RAW Workflow In the past, most camera calibration solutions required a controlled and consistent studio environment to obtain a good profile, and usually only worked for TIFF or JPEG image formats. However, many of today’s photographers are taking advantage of their camera’s full capabilities by capturing images in RAW format. ColorChecker Passport has opened the door for these photographers by making the RAW calibration and profiling experience fast and easy.
Benefits of Printer Profiles Following the same logic, wouldn’t you like to know the colors you send to the printer are the colors that will show up on the paper? Printer profiles provide this assurance. Many printer manufacturers provide profiles with their printers. These are fine for photo hobbyists who may not be as critical with color.
White Balance Starting with an accurate white balance is critical in any photo workflow because it ensures the colors you are capturing are true and provides a point of reference for post-shoot editing. With ColorChecker Passport, you can easily edit the white balance to achieve a custom warmer or cooler look. What is White Balance? Light comes in many different qualities and colors. Daylight can appear bluish or yellowish.
White Balance in a RAW Workflow Setting a consistent white point in a set of images also reduces editing time in a RAW workflow because there’s no need to individually adapt white points for each image. But the real power of RAW format is the selection of incamera custom white balance or in-software white balance, and the flexibility to alter images without destroying original image data.
The Targets ColorChecker Passport is a rugged, pocket-sized case that houses and protects three indispensible targets: • • • ColorChecker White Balance Target: A spectrally-neutral white balance gray card target for in-camera white balancing for RAW and JPEG photography. ColorChecker Classic: The recognized industry standard 24-patch target for fine tuning critical color and building custom DNG profiles.
The ColorChecker White Balance Target The only way to get a consistent, neutral gray is to shoot a proper gray reference. Why gray? You cannot white balance if any of the RGB values are at the maximum limit, with no tone value. It is much easier to expose a light gray card so that the values are all very light, but not so light that they don’t have any tone. A gray patch on the ColorChecker target will actually provide a more balanced neutral for JPEG and RAW photography.
The ColorChecker Classic Target ColorChecker Passport includes the legendary 24-patch X-Rite ColorChecker Classic. This target has been used by photographers, videographers and for scientific evaluation of color rendition since 1976. In fact, it has become an industry standard. Each of the 24 color patches represents the colors of natural objects, such as sky blue, flesh tones and leaf green; and each patch reflects light just like its real world counterpart.
How to Use the ColorChecker Classic Target Photographing a ColorChecker Classic is the first step in attaining consistent, predictable color. Photograph it in the same lighting as your images; then open it in your photo processing software for a built-in point of color reference to help with color correction. With the included ColorChecker Passport application, you can also build DNG profiles for Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
Proper Exposure Adequately Exposed. Even steps are visible between each shadow and highlight patch. Black does not go to 0,0,0 and white does not go to 255, 255, 255 (or 100%, 100%, 100%). Overexposed. This capture shows no distinction between Underexposed. Notice there are not visible steps between the highlight clipping patches and goes p to 255 (or 100%). the black patches in the exposure clipping row. Dappled Lighting.
The ColorChecker Creative Enhancement Target The first step to better color is accuracy achieved with in-camera white balancing and custom DNG profiling. The second step is creative enhancement. Most photographers recognize when skin tones don’t look right, but only those with strong color correction skills can fix it. This type of creative editing usually requires a lot of know how and experience.
Use and Care of ColorChecker Passport Use The ColorChecker Passport case is designed to serve many purposes. • • • The rugged outer shell keeps the ColorChecker targets secure during transport and away from the elements and UV exposure. The hinged opening will bend to accommodate proper positioning of the targets for shooting. The lanyard attached to the hinge spine makes it easy to carry and access the Passport during photo shoots. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your targets.
Passport Use and Care Opening and Closing the Passport Case Since the hinge is rigid enough to hold positions, opening and closing the case can be tricky. • • To open it, push the latch button. Hold the outside of the case and pull it open. When you close it, be careful not to touch the patches. Quality Guarantee Label The targets are designed to last two years. Write the date of the first use on the Quality Guarantee label so you know when the target expires.
Positioning Options To help you get the best possible shot, the ColorChecker targets can be positioned a variety of ways. Self-Standing ColorChecker Classic and Creative Enhancement Target. The Creative Enhancement and Classic targets can be positioned inline with each other. Use the back page to stand the targets and adjust the angle with respect to the camera. Self-Standing ColorChecker Classic or Creative Enhancement Target.
The Software Raw Processing Applications There are a number of applications you can use for basic Raw photo color correction, such as Lightroom 2, Phase One’s Capture One, and Bibble Lab’s Bibble. These applications are designed specifically for photographers to make basic color corrections, adjust for exposure and contrast, crop images and build a collection of images. You can also quickly import, process and manage images—from one shot to an entire shoot.
ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application The ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application integrates with Adobe Raw processing applications, and can be used to build DNG and dual-illuminant DNG profiles. It’s based on an advanced profiling technology that provides excellent results with just the small 24 patch ColorChecker Classic target. This application is especially useful for unusual artificial light sources, and can create DNG profiles for adaptive dual-illuminants.
Macintosh • MacOS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.
Setting White Balance How to Set In-Camera White Balance Image quality lies in the balance. Setting a custom white balance in the camera will adjust it to compensate for color cast, while still maintaining all of the subtle shades of color that the camera can capture. If you’re working with a JPEG or TIFF workflow, the best way to get accurate, neutral color is to do a custom white balance in the camera, before you begin your shoot.
1. Position the target. See the “Use and Care of ColorChecker Passport” section for tips to position the target. 2. Since your camera can’t focus on the white target, change the settings to Manual Focus and Automatic Exposure. When white balance is completed, be sure to set the camera back to auto focus! 3. Aim the camera at the ColorChecker White Balance target in the Passport. Try to fill the center of the viewfinder with the target and snap the picture. 4.
How to Set White Balance in Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements Photoshop and Photoshop Elements both use the same Camera Raw Plug-in, and the white balance tool works just as it does in Lightroom. Select the White Balance eyedropper tool. For a neutral white balance, select either the first patch, on the left, in the portrait row, or the middle patch on the landscape row. Because you are working in a Raw workflow, the custom white balance settings are non-destructive.
How to Set White Balance in Bibble In Bibble, the white balance tool is called the Click White Curser. The easiest place to find it is in the upper tool bar, the third tool from the left. For a neutral white balance, select either the first patch on the left, in the portrait row, or the middle patch on the landscape row. Color Casts In cases where the color of the light is very important you won’t want to negate color casts This image has a custom white balance applied.
Correcting Image Color with Spectrum Patches When editing images, wouldn’t it be nice to know the exact color of an object in the photo to determine whether your colors are accurate? Shooting the ColorChecker Passport can tell you. Event and catalog photographers often shoot a large number of images that all require the same color correction. Generally, they’ll make edits based on a few key photos; then apply them to the rest of the images.
HSL Sliders One way to describe colors is by Hue, Saturation, and Lightness (or Brightness). Most photo editing applications offer HSL sliders to help you make specific color edits to these three characteristics. • • • Hue is the main attribute of color that distinguishes it from others, such as red, yellow and green. Saturation describes how vivid or pure a color is. Lightness describes a color’s lightness or darkness.
Enhancing Images with the ColorChecker Creative Enhancement Target Exposure Verification and Correction The ColorChecker Passport provides a convenient, robust solution to color correction in the field. Without a visual reference, it can be a challenge to judge, control and edit images for the best shadow details and to ensure highlights are not clipped. It’s also hard to tell what your selective edits will do globally in other color regions.
If you set your white balance with the neutral gray target, you can use the ColorChecker Passport patches to do a quick check to confirm proper color, and the clipping patches to fine-tune highlights and shadows. 1. Sample the black patch with the eyedropper. This patch should be nearly neutral, so the R, G and B values should be close to equal. Although the black patch is very dark, it should not read as pure black. 2. Do the same thing with the white point.
Highlight Clipping Correction The Highlight Clipping patches can help verify whether you are holding details in the highlights and shadows. In Adobe applications, use these patches along with the clipping preview to see if you are losing details. Here’s how to do this in Lightroom and Camera Raw. 1. In the Histogram window, click on the triangles in the corners to turn on the clipping preview for the shadow and highlight areas. 2. Roll over the patches to check for blow out.
White Balance Portraits with “Warming” Patches Warming up portraits can portray a more appealing and healthy look than purely accurate tones. Try each of the ColorChecker Passport warming patches to see which gives the effect you’re looking for. When you find something you like, use the same patch to white balance for other lighting conditions to achieve a more consistent appearance for cases where a similar look is required.
White Balance Landscapes with “Cooling” Patches While some landscapes can benefit from a warmer appearance, others would benefit from a richer green look. The reddish cooling patches on ColorChecker Passport are designed specifically to enhance the cool greens in landscape photos. Click on each of the patches to preview the adjustment, and select the patch that gives you the best look. Save the setting and apply it to other landscape images that were shot under that lighting.
Creating DNG Profiles Calibrating your camera to produce custom DNG profiles is a must for any photographer who relies on consistent, accurate color. Creating a custom white balance with the ColorChecker White Balance target will ensure you’re starting with accurate color. Shooting a physical reference like the ColorChecker Classic target will make color corrections quicker, plus allow you to assign them to a large batch of images for greater productivity.
3. Under the File menu, select Export… 4. From the Export window, click anywhere in the banner at the top of the window, below the Export Selected Photos message. When the menu appears, select X-Rite Presets from the list. 5. Enter a name for the profile that describes the lighting conditions of the shot and click the Export button. It’s not necessary to include the camera model in the name because the resulting profile will only be available when you are editing images from that camera. 6.
7. You may be asked to re-launch Lightroom before you can select the new DNG profile. 8. With an image selected, go to the Develop module. 9. In the right panel, scroll down to Camera Calibration and select the Profile pull-down. Choose the new DNG profile from this list. Keep in mind, this new profile can also be used by all ACR applications, such as Photoshop, Bridge and Elements.
Creating DNG Profiles in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements Photoshop and Photoshop Elements both use Adobe’s Camera Raw Plug-in. To make a DNG profile based on your camera’s output: 1. Open an image of the ColorChecker Classic in the Camera Raw plug-in. You do not need to perform a white balance; the ColorChecker Passport application will analyze the image and make adjustment automatically. 2. Don’t edit the image, but make sure to verify that it was exposed properly.
5. Launch the ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application. • • On a Mac, it is located in Applications/ColorChecker Passport On a PC, it is located in c:\Program Files\X-Rite\ColorChecker Passport 6. Select the DNG tab and drag and drop the DNG file into the window. 7. Click the Create Profile button. The software will automatically search for the patches and build the profile. If the software cannot find the patches, you will be asked to manually identify the corners of the patches. 8.
9. Restart your Adobe applications to use the new DNG profile. It will be available in the Camera Calibration panel in Lightroom and Camera Raw. 10. In Camera Raw, open an image and click on the Camera icon to see the Camera Calibration tab. 11. From the pull-down, select the new profile. See the “Productivity and Automation” section for ways to use this profile on larger groups of images in Adobe applications.
Auto-Detect Function If the auto-detect function in your Desktop Application is having trouble finding the ColorChecker target, check out these helpful tips. If the software doesn’t auto-detect the target, match up the dots with the corner brackets on the ColorChecker Classic. When holding the ColorChecker target for a shot, be sure your finger does not cover any of the patches.
Creating a Dual-Illuminant DNG Profile in the ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application or the ColorChecker Passport Lightroom Plugin A very powerful feature of the ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application and the ColorChecker Lightroom Plugin is the ability to create custom DNG profiles with two illuminants. This type of profile, called dual-illuminant, can provide very good results in a wide variety of light sources.
Creating a Dual-Illuminant DNG Profile in Lightroom 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Shoot the ColorChecker Classic under the first light source. Shoot the ColorChecker Classic under the second light source. Import the images into Lightroom. Select the two images. Click the Export button and follow the steps for creating a DNG profile. 6. The profile will automatically be created with both light source tables and saved. You will need to restart your Adobe applications to use this new profile.
Creating a Dual-Illuminant DNG Profile in Photoshop Camera Raw 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Shoot the ColorChecker Classic under the first light source. Shoot the ColorChecker Classic under the second light source. Open each of the images in Photoshop Camera Raw. With each image, click the Save Image button to save them as DNG files. In the ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application, select the Dual-Illuminant DNG tab. Drag and drop the DNG files, into the window.
Automating Color Control in Raw When shooting an event or a series of product shots under the same lighting conditions, editing the basic color settings all at once and applying them to the rest of the series can save a lot of time. Whether it’s applying your DNG profile or white balance settings, or even doing some general color correction, this automation can help you achieve consistent edits across the board in a fraction of the time.
3. Select the settings to copy to another image. If you want to copy your custom profile, make sure to select the Calibration check box. 4. Click the Copy button. 5. From the filmstrip at the bottom of the window, select an image. Click the Paste button. These settings will be applied to the selected image.
Copy and Paste Settings in the Library Module If you already have an edited image and are viewing it in the Library Module and want to copy the settings, use these steps to copy settings from one photo and paste them into other images from the Library Module. 1. Under the Photo menu select Develop Settings. 2. From the sub menu, select Copy Settings. The Copy Settings dialog window will appear. 3. Select the settings to copy to another image.
Synchronize Settings Lightroom allows you to synchronize settings in the filmstrip of either the Library or Develop modules, or in the Library Thumbnails. 1. Click to select an image that has been edited to your liking. 2. Select an image, or group of images, that you would like to share the settings with and hit the Sync… (or Sync Settings… ) button in the lower right corner. 3. All of the settings from the first image will be applied to the selected images.
Saving Presets If you shoot a lot of images under the same lighting on a regular basis, in your studio for instance, it might be helpful to save a preset that can used over and over. 1. In the Develop module, open an image of the ColorChecker target that was shot under the desired lighting. 2. Set the white balance and select your camera’s DNG profile. On the left side panel next to the word Presets, click on the + button. 3.
Default Presets Lightroom allows you to save your Camera Raw settings as a default. Since even the same model camera may capture color a little differently, it will be useful to save unique settings for each of your cameras. To ensure these settings are only used for a specific camera’s serial number and ISO setting, set that option in your Preferences. 1. Under the Lightroom menu, on the Mac, or Edit menu in Windows, open Preferences. 2.
Automating Color Control in Adobe Camera Raw In Photoshop, in Mac OSX, you can select multiple Raw image files and open them at the same time in Camera Raw. Once you edit one, you can apply the same edits to the entire series. Sync Settings Sync settings will copy settings from one image to all other images you select. 1. Edit an image. 2. From the thumbnails on the left side, command-click to select other images you want to share these settings. 3.
Saving Presets If you shoot a lot of images under the same lighting conditions, saving a preset will allow you to use these settings over and over. 1. On the right side panel, click the little button that looks like a list. From the pull-down, choose Save Settings…. 2. Select any of the settings that you want to include in this preset, but only the ones you need. 3. Give it a meaningful name that describes the camera and lighting conditions. 4. Click the Save button.
Default Presets Adobe allows you to save your Camera Raw settings as a default. Since even the same model camera may capture color a little differently, it will be useful to save unique settings for each of your cameras. To ensure these settings are only used for a specific camera’s serial number and ISO setting, set that option in your Preferences. 1. From the Photoshop menu on the Mac, or the Edit menu in Windows, select Camera Raw Preferences. 2.
Automating Color Control in Capture One The Adjustment Clipboard is used to hold a selection of image adjustments including color corrections, white balance, exposure settings and other adjustments. These adjustments can be copied from one image and them applied to other images. 1. If you do not have the Basic Adjustments window open, go to the Tools menu and select Basic Adjustments. 2. Click the Copy button.
Automating Color Control in Bibble Saving Basic Adjustments 1. Under the Tools menu, select Basic Adjustments. 2. Select the button with the icon of a down arrow in the upper right corner of the window and select Save from the menu.
3. Type a name for your saved Basic Adjustment panel settings file. This will save all of the adjustments made to this image. As you are editing other images, you can apply these adjustments by selecting your saved Basic Adjustment panel settings file. Open the Basic Adjustments window, use the down arrow button, and select Load.
The Complete Photo Workflow There are many ways to use ColorChecker Passport in a digital photography workflow to improve both quality and productivity. Here are a couple of examples to help you get started with either a Raw or JPEG workflow. Raw Workflow One of the touted benefits of the Raw workflow is that you can wait to make a lot of your decisions until you process your Raw files.
7. Use the white balance selection tool in your Raw processing software to select the gray balance in the Creative Enhancement target. This can be a neutral patch, or one that provides the warmer or cooler look you want. See the “How to Set White Balance in [your software]” and “Warming and Cooling with White Balance“ sections for more information. 8. In the photo editing software, edit the image of ColorChecker Passport using physical targets as visual guides.
5. In your photo editing software, edit the image of ColorChecker Classic and Creative Enhancement targets, using the physical targets as visual guides. See ”The ColorChecker Classic “, “Correcting Image Color with Spectrum Patches” and “Enhancing Images with the ColorChecker Creative Enhancement Target” sections to learn more.
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