ICC Profiles

In online printing, ICC profiles refer to a set of data that describes color characteristics, limitations and the gamut of a device that captures, displays or prints color.

Developed by the International Color Consortium (ICC), these color profiles are very important in order to manage color properly between different devices, as it travels from the creative phase to the final product.

Types of ICC Profiles

There are several types of ICC profiles. The most common ones you’ll come across are:

• Input profiles for cameras and scanners
• Output profiles for printing devices
• Working space profiles for creative purposes

Another type of profile is a device link profile. It’s important to note that it’s only used in color management software systems for transforming color from one space to another for specific purposes and goals.

Using Color Profiles

All professional-level creative applications contain color management settings. If the profiles are removed or ignored at any part of the process, you’ll get undesirable results and inaccurate color shifts on your project.

Be sure to never choose an option that displays the following message: Ignore linked profiles, preserve numbers. You’ll always want to choose the option that embeds or honors the profiles, and when creating or saving a document, ensure ICC profiles are included.

As part of our online printing services, Smartpress can provide you with a Color Management Settings file that you can load and use if you are using Adobe Creative Suite applications.