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ICC colour profile
An ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a colour input or output device.
ICC colour profile, schematic. Shapes are drawn for illustration.
What the sources say
| Point | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mapping | Maps between the device colour space and a profile connection space, CIELAB or CIEXYZ | Wikipedia |
| Rendering intent | A profile may define several mappings by rendering intent | Wikipedia |
| Origin | The International Color Consortium was established in 1993 by eight industry vendors | ICC |
| Standard | The specification is published as ISO 15076-1:2010 | ICC |
| Example chain | A camera profile converts colours into the connection space; a printer profile converts them to the printer's space | IBM |
For wall art
A profile is the translation step between devices; the sources do not say whether a given image file carries one, so check how your editing software handles it.
Where the sources stop
None of the three sources says that an image file always carries a profile, so we make no claim about that. The camera-to-printer chain is the example the IBM documentation gives.
Sources
- Wikipedia: ICC profile (fetched 2026-11-12)
- International Color Consortium: about the ICC (fetched 2026-11-12)
- IBM Documentation: ICC profiles (fetched 2026-11-12)
Figures from these pages are paraphrased; each page was fetched and read on 2026-11-12. Where two sources differ, both are shown.