User Guide

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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. Plus, when paired with
ColorChecker Passport, you can be confident you’re making corrections based on accurate color information.
This guide focuses on the most popular Raw processing applications. Since
these applications share many of the same tools and steps, this document often
cites the process in one program; but you can easily adapt it to work in
whichever program you use.
The main differentiator between these programs is that Bibble and Capture One support the use of ICC profiles,
while Lightroom works with Adobe DNG profiles. Custom profiles can be especially useful in getting to accurate
color fast. Both ICC and DNG profiles can represent your camera, lens and lighting conditions, but there are
differences in how they are made and used.
DNG profiles are currently unique to Adobe applications. They perform virtually the same tasks as ICC profiles, but
are proprietary to Adobe products. The ColorChecker Passport Desktop Application allows independent creation of
DNG profiles. ColorChecker Passport also includes a Lightroom plug-in that can seamlessly build DNG profiles in
the background while you continue to edit images. It is as simple as exporting a file. The profile is generated quickly
and automatically stored so that it is accessible from any ACR enabled application, such as Elements, Photoshop
or even Adobe Bridge.
X-Rite has other applications that can be used to make custom ICC profiles. Visit http://www.xritephoto.com for
more information.
DNG profiles are not intended to be used exclusively in a DNG workflow. They
can be used for any camera manufacturer’s Raw files, and besides DNG, can
be used to create TIFF, JPG or any supported file format.
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop is a robust photo-editing program that is designed to meet the diverse needs of professionals in a wide
range of fields, including professional photographers, serious amateurs, graphic designers and web designers. In
addition to the tools offered with the applications listed above, Photoshop can also be used for creative pixel editing
and precise photo retouching. Like Lightroom, Photoshop uses powerful DNG profiles.