Color Profile Creation
Steps
Complete the Framing & Focus, Exposure (rough), and White Balance (rough) preflight steps using Capture One according to the DT Reflective Digitization Guide – but aim to be approximately one stop underexposed.
If you’re using a Phase One iXH camera and DT AutoColumn system, both Framing and Focus can be set in one click using AutoPPI inside of Live View.
In the Color Profiles panel of DT Nexus, click “Calibrate” to launch a new window to guide you through the color profiling process, which will also fine tune the exposure and white balance.
Flat Fielding
In Capture One, select an image of your white or grey flat fielding card.
In the Color Profiling Wizard in DT Nexus, click "Use Selected Image(s)."
The Flat Fielding step can be skipped by clicking the "Skip" button in the lower right corner of the Wizard. This will affect the quality of the profile.
Detect Targets
Following the prompt, place one or more of the supported targets in the imaging area.
Click “Capture targets.”
For DT Stellar or DT Gemini users: DT Nexus will capture both a white and sapphire light capture to generate profiles for both Standard (ICC) and Fusion modes. For more on Fusion Mode, see Fusion Capture. After the Beta, use of Fusion will require a Fusion license.
Best practice for profile creation and validation is to use two separate color targets.
One target can provide Profile creation. But for independent validation of this profile, we recommend a second target.
When selecting a target for initial profiling, DT recommends the DT NGT2. This allows the FADGI 19264 target to be reserved for validation of all metrics (color, SFR etc)
For more information see The Importance of Evaluating Color Quality Using an Independent Target on the DT website.
DT Nexus will detect the target(s) and their serial numbers, if available. It will automatically select the optimal target to create a new color profile and apply specific measurements for serialized targets when possible.
Automatic target detection requires a very roughly correct exposure, white balance, and focus, as well as all four edges of the target being visible inside the current crop. If a target cannot be automatically detected you can select a target type from the left and manually place it on the target.
DT Nexus profiling engine includes compensation for exposure and white balance. Minor underexposure of the raw file used to create the profile is recommended. If you overexpose the raw file, the quality of the profile will be negatively affected.
Note that "generic" values for the CCSG and NGT2 are based on averaged measurements by Dave Wyble while generic values for the ISA and DT Nexus Transmissive targets are from specific serial numbers (TP24001 and TV24001). Generic values are significantly less accurate than serial-number specific measurements.
DT Nexus will create the profile or profiles. A standard ICC profile will always be created. If a DT Stellar Fusion light is attached or a Fusion Capture Pair was selected then a Fusion Profile will also be created.
The target measurements file used to create a Fusion Profile must contain spectral data.
Upon creation of the color profile, several color metrics are displayed: average Delta E, 90th percentile Delta E, and Max Delta E. Above these metrics are two drop downs to select a quality standard and material type to quickly see if these metrics pass the designated use case. A pass is indicated by a blue checkmark next to the metric. A fail is indicated by an orange warning icon. Some standards do not have guidance for some metrics. For example, most FADGI controls for average and 90th percentile Delta E, but not for maximum Delta E. Moreover, the current (2023) FADGI Guideline does not control for DeltaE for film materials. In these cases the user should interpret checkmarks at their own discretion.
Click the "Heatmap" toggle at the top of the target image viewer to see deltaE of individual patches
Use ⌘ +/- to zoom in/out on the target image, or hold ⌘ and use your mouse scroll wheel. ⌘ 0 can be used to zoom to fit.
Do not be alarmed if the deltaE results for Fusion profiles are not as low as the white profile on the profiling target.
See Suggested Capture Settings: Higher DeltaE Numbers for Fusion for more information.
If a color profile does not meet the required standard, consult the Color Profiling: Troubleshooting section.
Optional: Change the name of the profile. The profile naming system accepts a variety of tokens including the name of the target, the date, the time, and the camera serial number among others. You can also use plain text. Note that the base name of the profile file will always start with the name of the camera that Capture One requires to populate the profile dropdown list. For some models this varies from the typical name of the camera. For example Phase One iXH 150mp is saved with the name Phase One IQ4 150mp, a quirk required for it to show up correctly inside Capture One's profile tool.
Click “Save Profile” to save and exit the color profile window.
DT Nexus will request to restart Capture One, after which the new ICC profile will be available under Capture One's Base Characteristics tool and applied automatically to the selected image (or fusion pair). The ICC profile will also be automatically applied to the target capture that was selected for profiling. The Fusion Profile (if created) will be available under the Nexus [Export >Fusion Processing] tool.
For more about the disk location of the resulting profile files see User File Locations
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