Common Uses and Users

Color reference targets are commonly deployed in color-accurate photographic workflows. For example, in cultural heritage settings such as museums, libraries, and archives, it is important that the color in an image of a collections object such as a vase, painting, drawing, or letter is accurate to the original physical object. In commercial studio environments, color accuracy means consumers better understand the color of an item they are purchasing which decreases returns and increases customer satisfaction. In scientific and research settings insert link color accuracy and precision are often critical in using images of physical objects as sources of quantifiable data. In short, wherever there is a need for accurate and precise color, color reference targets are essential.

The NGT2 in particular is specifically designed for heritage users – those digitizing collections materials at galleries, museums, libraries, and archives.

Color reference targets are used to measure, analyze, and improve the accuracy of color in a photographic or imaging workflow. This includes the creation of custom color profiles, checking and quantifying the color accuracy of an imaging system, validating that an imaging system complies with required color quality specifications such as those found in FADGI, Metamorfoze, and ISO 19264. They can be used both numerically (via analysis of the resulting color values in RGB or LAB), programmatically (using software such as DT Nexus, Golden Thread, OpenDICE, or BasICColor), or visually (by comparing the target to an on-screen image on a color-calibrated monitor such as an Eizo.

In addition to these frequent tasks, the quality and durability of the DT NGT2 makes is an excellent master reference against which consumer-grade color targets such as the X-Rite Color Checker can be measured for drift/aging/degradation. Ideally, all targets in the workflow would be DT NGT2 targets as this has significant advantages over the use of consumer-grade targets.