3. About the Charts


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inCamera makes use of different types of color charts (sometimes called targets) to make a profile.

The industry standard IT8 chart and the HutchColor HCT chart are intended for use with film scanners. (Actually there are two IT8 charts for scanners: IT8.7/1 for transparency scanners and IT8.7/2 for reflective scanners. Since these two are very similar to each other, we will collectively refer to them as just IT8.) Do not use an IT8 chart to profile a digital camera — you will likely get color errors in even basic colors, like neutrals.

The ColorChecker chart (containing 24 patches) or the newer ColorChecker DC (containing 240 patches) and ColorChecker SG (containing 140 patches) charts are intended primarily for digital cameras, although they may also be used to profile scanners which will be used for scanning non-photographic originals.


Note on scanning color negative film: There are certain situations (for example, school portrait photography) where profiling can be brought to bear on an "untouchable" area of color management: color negative film. If you shoot a frame containing one of the ColorChecker charts, followed by your "normal" images, the processed film can be scanned by a color negative film scanner, producing positive RGB digital images. You may then build a "digital camera" profile from the image of the ColorChecker, and apply this profile to all other images shot at that same time.


Here is a table that summarizes the various recommended uses of the different chart types:

Chart Digital Camera Scanner
ColorChecker Thumbnail ColorChecker Yes For scanning non-photographic originals or color negative films
ColorChecker DC Thumbnail ColorChecker DC Yes For scanning non-photographic originals or color negative films
ColorChecker SG Thumbnail ColorChecker SG Yes For scanning non-photographic originals or color negative films
IT8 Thumbnail IT8 Not recommended For scanning photographic positive originals
IT8 Thumbnail HCT Not recommended For scanning photographic positive originals

For each chart, there is a reference file which contains colorimetric values for each of the chart's color patches.

The following pages will provide more detailed information about each of the chart types:

ColorChecker Chart ColorChecker Thumbnail
ColorChecker DC Chart ColorChecker DC Thumbnail
ColorChecker SG Chart ColorChecker SG Thumbnail
IT8 Chart IT8 Thumbnail
HCT Chart HCT Thumbnail

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