Dan Margulis Applied Color Theory

How to Save False Profiles

false profiles
Posted by: "addition80"
Tue Dec 2, 2008 10:21 pm (PST)

Hi, sorry to ask this but I need to confirm that I know how to do this or my photoshop is acting buggy because every time I create custom false profiles, nothing happens.

1) In PSCS3, goto menu bar> Edit> Color Settings...> under Working Spaces> RGB: pick custom RGB...> Name (whatever the gamma I want it to be) then under Gamma> pick gamma value (matches the name)> Press OK > then when back at the Color Settings dialogue box, Cancel.

Call up false profile using Assign profile.

Hope it isn't me, but I think it is.

Thank you in advance.

Ted Moon
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: "Paul D. DeRocco"
Wed Dec 3, 2008 2:13 am (PST)

I believe you have to save the profile as an .icc file, by selecting Save RGB... before canceling the Color Settings dialog.

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Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: J Walton
Wed Dec 3, 2008 2:13 am (PST)

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 9:23 PM, addition80 wrote:

Hi, sorry to ask this but I need to confirm that I know how to do this
or my photoshop is acting buggy because every time I create custom
false profiles, nothing happens.

Sounds like you're just forgetting something. That happens to everybody when you don't do something for a while.

1) In PSCS3, goto menu bar>Edit>Color Settings...> under Working
Spaces> RGB: pick custom RGB...> Name (whatever the gamma I want it to
be) then under Gamma> pick gamma value (matches the name)> Press OK >
then when back at the Color Settings dialogue box, Cancel.

Based on your next step it sounds like you are doing this, but don't forget to save the Profile (not the Color Settings) with a unique name somewhere appropriate for your system.

Call up false profile using Assign profile.

And then convert. I'm not certain, but I imagine this is the step you're leaving out. You need to convert to cement the changes, since Assign changes the appearance but not the numbers, and Convert changes the actual RGB numbers (but not the appearance).

Regards,

J Walton
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false profiles
Posted by: "Jeremy Stephenson"
Wed Dec 3, 2008 5:01 am (PST)

The step you're missing is at the end. After changing the gamma value and pressing ok, you need to then choose "save rgb" (while still in the rgb drop down menu - on my CS3 it is second from the top after custom RGB). After that step it should show up when using Assign profile.

Jeremy Stephenson
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: "Alessandro Bernardi"
Wed Dec 3, 2008 5:01 am (PST)

"addition80" wrote:

Hi, sorry to ask this but I need to confirm that I know how to do this
or my photoshop is acting buggy because every time I create custom
false profiles, nothing happens.

1) In PSCS3, goto menu bar>Edit<Color Settings...> under Working
Spaces> RGB: pick custom RGB...> Name (whatever the gamma I want it to
be) then under Gamma> pick gamma value (matches the name)> Press OK >
then when back at the Color Settings dialogue box, Cancel.

The mistake is just in the last word of your sentence: "Cancel". After creating the false profile you'll have it as a choice in the RGB working spaces in the color setting window but, if you choose Cancel, you'll loose the changes you've just made.

For making the false profile always available in the Assign Profile list you need to save it before closing the Color Setting window. Otherwise you'll see "Custom RGB" in the RGB working spaces in the Color Settings window. In the RGB working spaces menu (where appears the new profile you've just created) choose Save RGB and assign the name you like.

Call up false profile using Assign profile.

If you've saved the false profile, now you can assign it by choosing the right one in the profile menu in the lower part of the Assign Profile window. Or instead, if you forgot to save the false profile (and you didn't hit the button Cancel), you can choose the false profile by selecting "Working RGB: Custom RGB" in the middle of the same window.

Remember that if you don't save the false profile in the Color Setting window, you'll loose it as you'll change the color setting in Photoshop or in Bridge when choosing Creative Suite Color Settings. That's why it's useful to save it before leaving the Color Setting window.

Of course the big assumption is that you're working on a RGB file, isn't it?

Regards,
Alessandro Bernardi
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: Howard Smith
Wed Dec 3, 2008 8:56 am (PST)

Ted, you have been advised to save the Custom profile before closing the Color Settings box. That's absolutely correct. However, to call up a Custom profile you can use Assign Profile only to access your last saved version. If you save several, you need to click the Settings menu in the Color Settings box to set your preferred false profile as the active RGB color space choice. You then can use Assign Profile to choose any of your standard RGB profiles in addition to the currently active Custom profile. To call up your currently active Custom profile, choose Don't Color Manage This Document to get the active color space by default, or choose Custom RGB which will call up your currently active Custom profile. As you were also advised, be sure to choose Convert to Profile if you want to make the color changes permanent.

You might also want to remember to change your working space RGB back to whatever you normally use. Otherwise any time you open an untagged RGB it will be affected by the Custom RGB profile left as the Working RGB. If anyone knows of a way to make multiple Custom profiles available to Assign Profile, please share. It seems that it should be possible, but the answer eludes me.

Howard Smith
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: Dan Margulis
Wed Dec 3, 2008 7:14 pm (PST)

It definitely is possible, I've seen people with as many as 50 different false profiles available. I've got a dozen on my own system.

If you're not able to do this, my guess is that when you call up the Custom RGB dialog in order to change the gamma, you are leaving the name as Custom RGB and only assigning a name when you use Save RGB to save it. Some OSs apparently have difficulty with this, and others don't seem to like spaces or decimal points in the name. So if you stick a name like "1point4_gamma_sRGB" into the Custom RGB dialog this ought to make as many profiles as you like available.

Dan Margulis
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: Howard Smith
Wed Dec 3, 2008 9:41 pm (PST)

Thanks, Dan. I wondered if it might have something to do with Windows or with some of my other computer software. I tried your suggestion, saving a custom RGB profile with a name that contained no dots and no "custom" wording, both as an ICC profile and in Color Settings as a .csf file. I can call them up with the Color Settings box, but not with Assign Profile. In fact your comments in Professional Photoshop about false profiles motivated me to save a small group of them for special applications. By clicking Custom in Color Settings I can call up the full menu and select the one I want to try. Just can't find a way to do it with Assign Profile.

I appreciate both your consideration and your suggestions. For reasons unknown it just doesn't work with CS in my PC.

Howard Smith
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: Darren Bernaerdt
Thu Dec 4, 2008 2:30 am (PST)

Howard,

The false profile needs to be saved in the correct directory within your Windows folder. Rather than digging way down, there's an easier way to accomplish this.

Save your false profile to the desktop ensuring it has an "icc" extension. Right click on the icon on your desktop and choose "Install Profile" from the menu. Restarting Photoshop wouldn't hurt. The profile should now appear. Note this is not the *.csf file which saves your Color Settings.

(On my Windows computer at the office, if my memory serves me correct, the directory for profiles is: C: \Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\Color)
I only have one computer running Windows XP so I'm not sure about other possible locations if you're using something other than XP.)

Darren Bernaerdt
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: "Paul D. DeRocco"0
Thu Dec 4, 2008 2:33 am (PST)

Saving the profile as an .icc file works fine on my Windows system in PS CS3. The only problem I can imagine is that perhaps you're not saving it in the standard location, which would be

C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color

Having saved it there, it appears in Edit->Assign Profile immediately, and subsequently every time I restart Photoshop.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: George Machen
Thu Dec 4, 2008 8:49 am (PST)

An alternative to applying a false profile to get a gamma change could be to change the gamma directly within Photoshop's Exposure dialog, which in CS2 is here:

Image:Adjustments:Exposure:Gamma

To test whether the two alternatives are sufficiently equivalent, I did the following:

- Starting with an Adobe 98 profile image, which is gamma 2.2, I duplicated the image and put it aside for further use below.
- I Applied a false profile of Adobe 98 with a 1.0 gamma to lighten the appearance. Then promptly did a Convert to Profile back to plain-vanilla Adobe 98 to imprint the numbers.
- To the original duplicate image, I used the Exposure dialog to change its gamma to 1.0. Note: Whereas creating a false profile in Color Settings involves directly consigning an absolute gamma, the Gamma slider in Exposure makes a relative change to gamma, so to end up with a 1.0 gamma I entered 1.0/2.2 = 0.4545...
- I put the other image on a new layer and set the blending mode to Difference.
- The result was almost completely solid black. It took an Auto-Contrast plus a ludicrously steep curve to bring out the meager wisp of the differences.

Consequently, I conclude that the Exposure dialog's Gamma setting may be a useful alternative to lightening or darkening with a false profile because:
- It's "close enough," which is all that's needed with, for example, the broad strokes employed by the Picture Postcard workflow.
- It displays a dynamically changing preview while moving the Gamma slider, all the better to visually gauge how much to apply in real-time.

Memo: I avoided sRGB in this test because while it nominally is gamma 2.2 overall, its gamma gets a custom finesse: it's linear (gamma 1.0) in the range near black, and non-linear elsewhere involving a 2.4 exponent and a gamma (slope of log output versus log input) changing from 1.0 through about 2.3. This would have made a big mess, invalidating trying to compare it with the Exposure dialog's straight gamma setting.

- George Machen
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Re: false profiles
Posted by: Dan Margulis
Sun Dec 7, 2008 5:59 am (PST)

George Machen writes,

Consequently, I conclude that the Exposure
dialog's Gamma setting may be a useful
alternative to lightening or darkening with a
false profile because:
- It's "close enough," which is all that's needed
with, for example, the broad strokes employed by
the Picture Postcard workflow.
- It displays a dynamically changing preview
while moving the Gamma slider, all the better to
visually gauge how much to apply in real-time.

That's correct. Within reason, messing around with the gamma setting in Exposure is the same as applying a false profile followed by Convert to Profile>Current RGB workspace.

For the past year or so, I've been using Exposure rather than false profile in my lectures to basic ACT classes and at Photoshop World. My reasoning is that when time is limited I don't want to waste any of it by explaining what a false profile is and does.

For people who *do* know what false profiles are and have some premade, I don't think it's a big deal either way, but I still prefer false profiles in some but not all cases:

*The usual purpose of either move is to lighten the image prior to going into LAB. If so, the Exposure method involves an extra conversion of data. I am not unduly buffaloed by this, but others might be.

*If, OTOH, the file is not going to LAB but will remain in RGB, I prefer Exposure on the grounds that I might be stupid enough to forget later in the process that the file is being seen through a false profile.

*Applying a premade false profile is marginally quicker than using Exposure.

Basically, however, it's not a big deal either way. The question that may be of interest is under what circumstances would it pay to use Exposure on a layer set to Luminosity mode. This normally produces a more colorful result than either straight Exposure or a false profile. Most of the time, that's not desirable because the file is going into LAB where everything is going to be intensified beyond recognition anyway. I can visualize instances, however, where it might be helpful. But I don't have any at hand just yet.

Dan Margulis