X-Rite Color Checker Passport

[rpcrowe]

Has anyone used an X-Rite Color Checker Passport for color adjustment?

I always adjust the white balance of an image by shooting a white balance target image and then using the white balance pointer adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw. This will give me a generally correct white balance but, it is not always perfect.

One area that I have problems is having the color of my background material reflect onto the coat of my white dogs. I then need to manually adjust the color of the dog's coat using NIK Viveza.



I am under the impression that this problem may be solved, or at least minimized with the use of the Color Checker Passport and its accompanying software.

[Manfred M]

Richard - your understanding of what the ColorChecker passport and included software can do in not correct.

The software is used to create custom colour camera profiles that can be used with Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. I use one and the colour overall colour accuracy is slightly better than Adobe's profiles because it is specific to your camera body.

The problem you have is a result of reflections off the coloured background you are using and unless you use a neutral background (or a different coloured dog ) there is no way to correct that automatically.

X-rite has sold that part of their business to Calibrite. https://calibrite.com/us/

[rpcrowe]

The reason that I suspected this was a Mark Wallace Adorama YouTube video that showed images of the Valley Of Fire. SOOC the red earth/rocks of the terrain reflected up on the sparse green vegetation. With the image calibrated, the green did not show the reflected reddish glow.

[Manfred M]

The reason that I suspected this was a Mark Wallace Adorama YouTube video that showed images of the Valley Of Fire. SOOC the red earth/rocks of the terrain reflected up on the sparse green vegetation. With the image calibrated, the green did not show the reflected reddish glow.

I suspect that what you are seeing is a correction in the basic calibration of the camera.

The complement of green is magenta and if the calibration is off, then more green would reduce the magenta tones in that area. It can be challenging to tell the difference from pure red from near reds in many cases. By having the greens properly profiled, the complementary colour would not show up. This is far more complex that correcting an overall colour cast as it each of the 24 colours on the Colorchecker Passport are individually profiled.

The factory profile for my D810 is close, but when I built a custom profile for the D800, the camera calibration process reduced the saturation of the reds and my images looked far more realistic.

In your white dog example, you have a violet reflection on a white dog, so the basic colour theory does not work. We often see a similar issue in wedding photos that have been taken in the shade of trees. Here we often see the white polluted by greens.

The mechanism that creates the problem is not an incorrect camera profile, but rather due to an overall colour bias introduced by the setting.

[stuck]

...We often see a similar issue in wedding photos that have been taken in the shade of trees. Here we often see the white polluted by greens.

The mechanism that creates the problem is not an incorrect camera profile, but rather due to an overall colour bias introduced by the setting.

So this video, which corrects such a green cast by using a profile, is 'bad science' and in fact it only works by some fluke?

[Manfred M]

So this video, which corrects such a green cast by using a profile, is 'bad science' and in fact it only works by some fluke?

Not at all, it is good science, but it is not the same problem that Richard is trying to solve.

The colour profile created in the video seems to suggest that the original camera profile had a problem that can be explained by colour theory (complementary colours) as to what happened.

Richards example is a neutral colour catching reflections from the background and in my experience (I do create and use custom profiles in my work created with the ColorChecker Passport), is a colour contamination issue that cannot be corrected through a custom profile. In general, I tend to use neutral backgrounds (black, white or gray) to prevent the colour bleed onto the dog that comes from the mauve background the dog is sitting on.

[DanK]

I haven't been able to find the video. What's the link?

My understanding is that using a color checker will address problems in the color balance of the image as a whole, just as a white balance does. Richard's problem, if I understand, is a color cast that affects part of an image. That can't be fixed by a global adjustment, which will make the same adjustment everywhere, including sections of the image that are correct in terms of color.

I think the solution may require manual blending of two layers, with a color correction of the top one.

[Stagecoach]

The factory profile for my D810 is close, but when I built a custom profile for the D800, the camera calibration process reduced the saturation of the reds and my images looked far more realistic.

Manfred, since I started mainly using a Z6 from my D800 I've noticed the images are both always on the cool side and oversaturate some reds. This is with respect to my daylight shooting and Daylight WB. Whilst these are simple to sort in post I often have hundreds of event images at a time.

Is this a case where producing a custom profile using a colour-checker will be advantageous. If so I will get one.

[Manfred M]

My understanding is that using a color checker will address problems in the color balance of the image as a whole, just as a white balance does.

Interesting analogy, but not quite there. The process is more akin to profiling your computer screen. With the ColorChecker Passport you use a set of 24 known colours and look at what your camera has recorded and applies a correction to them to accurately reflect that "actual" colours on the card.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, since I started mainly using a Z6 from my D800 I've noticed the images are both always on the cool side and oversaturate some reds. This is with respect to my daylight shooting and Daylight WB. Whilst these are simple to sort in post I often have hundreds of event images at a time.

Is this a case where producing a custom profile using a colour-checker will be advantageous. If so I will get one.

It certainly can't hurt to have more accurate colour output, but you really won't know until you do a custom profile and see what you get.

[stuck]

I haven't been able to find the video. What's the link?...

The link was in my post but it's not there any more. To the best of my knowledge I didn't remove it and Manfred's reply to my post implies he saw the video so I don't know where the link has gone.

I can repost it but perhaps Manfred removed it for a legitimate (moderation) reason??

[Manfred M]

The link was in my post but it's not there any more. To the best of my knowledge I didn't remove it and Manfred's reply to my post implies he saw the video so I don't know where the link has gone.

I can repost it but perhaps Manfred removed it for a legitimate (moderation) reason??

There was no link in your post and your post has never been updated, so it appears that you did not include the link. I have never seen the video, but based on Richard’s comments am pretty sure I understand what was done.

[stuck]

There was no link in your post and your post has never been updated, so it appears that you did not include the link...

oops, sorry about that. The video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkgVZ9LWDt8

[DanK]

Interesting analogy, but not quite there. The process is more akin to profiling your computer screen. With the ColorChecker Passport you use a set of 24 known colours and look at what your camera has recorded and applies a correction to them to accurately reflect that "actual" colours on the card.

We're saying the same thing, but I used less precise terminology. To be concrete: suppose that using a color checker reveals that one of the 24 colors is not quite the right hue. The use of a color checker would make a global adjustment of that hue. I probably shouldn't have called that "balance". But my point was that the correction is global, while what Richard needs isn't global.

[Manfred M]

oops, sorry about that. The video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkgVZ9LWDt8

Thanks - the video is spot on in terms of what is says, but being sponsored by DataColor, there is a bit of overkill here.

Getting the white balance correct is definitely an important part of any workflow and it does not take something as expensive or complicated as the 24 colour patch. A simple neutral gray card I often use a WhiteBal card) is all that is required pull a correct white balance, What was said about setting the white and black points is also correct, but the pulling those off the Spyder Cube is irrelevant, as was shown later on in the video when the value was tweaked.

The comments on calibrating and profile a computer screen is 100% correct, but the video does not mention that you need to ensure that the monitor is capable of displaying (100% sRGB or 99% or better Adobe RGB) for photo work. There are also key requirements for display brightness values and for the working environment as well.

The comments about the custom profile for cameras, while correct, it, the way it has been presented is overkill. There is nothing wrong with creating a custom profile for each scene, it is massive overkill. The profile for daylight (or flash) will not change. When i started I make a custom profile for flash and daylight and found zero difference, so, like most photographers who make a custom profile, I have used a custom profile in cases where I shoot with strange light sources (fluorescent or LED) and the results have been interesting.

Just as an aside, this does not appear to be the video that Richard was referring to.

[stuck]

...my point was that the correction is global, while what Richard needs isn't global.

Thank you, from what both you and Manfred have said, I understand now.

[Manfred M]

Hi there! I have used the X-Rite Color Checker Passport for color adjustment, and it can definitely help improve color accuracy in your images. It's a great tool for ensuring consistent color across lighting and camera setups. As for your issue with the background color reflecting onto your white dogs, have you tried using a color checker to create a custom white balance profile? It can help eliminate color casts and ensure accurate color reproduction.

Sorry, you are mixing up a camera profile (that is what the coloured patches on the ColorChecker Passport are primarily used to make) and white balance. I have used it to create a custom profile for my camera and use it all the time. It has nothing to do with getting a "correct" white balance during a shoot.

A custom profile is used to built a colour profile that is used when converting raw data into an image file. It it specific to your camera rather than the generic profiles supplied by the software. It does not ensure a neutral white balance.

The neutral patches on the ColorChecker or the gray card can be used to get a white balance during the shoot, so long as the light hitting the subject and ColorChecker are the same.