LR Classic - Camera Profile Management

Report · Jul 15, 2019

I know I can delete (or move/copy) profiles by going to - Library / Application Support / Adobe / CameraRaw / CameraProfiles /

But was wondering if there is another/better way to manage these from within LR?

With an Xrite ColorChecker a new "camera" profile is created every time one shoots and processes a reference frame.

This is not actually a "camera" profile - this is a lightning and color profile for a very particular set of hardware and shooting conditions.

Change lenses? Different color. - Move to a different location? Different lighting etc.

The thing is we are shooting these references, hundreds, thousands of times and just don't want to keep them all around as "presets" since they are created only for very specific conditions.

Just thinking out loud - maybe the best way to manage them is to directory dive and then drag copy them into the projects's LR folder once it's done - thus keeping it on file, while keeping the program's list of "presets" under control. (We keep individual catalogs for client shoots rather than mixing everything in one giant catalog) Naming them to match the file name and/or date might also help to keep them connected.

It just seems like having them in a hidden directory in the system isn't ideal - but would make more sense if they were just presets or things that were used repeatedly. I'm guessing it is what it is. 😕

Report · Jul 15, 2019

You can toggle the visibility of groups of profiles and presets using the methods shown here: Julieanne Kost's Blog | Updates to Lightroom Classic - Profile and Preset Management, Color Labels,... or here: https://lightroomkillertips.com/lightroom-classic-7-4-update/

It would be great if we could easily group profiles together to make this toggling easy but apparently you can now only create new profile groups through Camera Raw.

In Response To Jao vdL · Jul 16, 2019

Thanks Jao - I wasn't aware of the right click options panel in the profile browser - helpful!

In Response To KE_DP · Jul 16, 2019

if you delete a custom user camera profile that is assigned to image files those files will be assigned the topmost alphanumeric named profile in your user folder.

Which would simply mean - create a blank one to fill that space so nothing is inadvertently applied.

It's only necessary to create a new camera profile onsite if the lighting is other than daylight or tungsten type.

I've been using the WhiBal product for years for excellent WB reference frames (and no "camera profiles" piling up) but started having to manage more and more ColorChecker profiles - thus this thread.

In Response To KE_DP · Jul 16, 2019

KE_DP wrote
if you delete a custom user camera profile that is assigned to image files those files will be assigned the topmost alphanumeric named profile in your user folder.
Which would simply mean - create a blank one to fill that space so nothing is inadvertently applied.

There's no such thing as a blank camera profile and you cannot process a raw file without a valid camera profile assigned to it.

I found this out the hard way after deleting a few of my older ColorChecker Passport created profiles. It was easy to discover because the topmost alphanumeric camera profile was a profile named 'Adobe Standard Invert' converted in DPE with an invert function for processing color negative film images. All of the image files assigned the deleted camera profiles were inverted! Here's what I have now in case it happens again. Each camera model has a "placeholder" camera profile with the underscore _ at the beginning of the profile name. If the originally assigned camera profile is deleted it assigns my default profile.

For managing your custom profiles can use Jeffrey Friedl's Data Explorer to find images assigned specific camera profiles:

Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Jeffrey’s “Data Explorer” Lightroom Plugin

If you've registered your X-Rite ColorChecker can download and use the DNG Profile Manager to change the camera profile's internal name that is displayed inside the LR/ACR profile browser.

DNG ProfileManager Software v1.03

Report · Jul 15, 2019

KE_DP wrote
I know I can delete (or move/copy) profiles by going to - Library / Application Support / Adobe / CameraRaw / CameraProfiles /

You do realize that if you delete a custom user camera profile that is assigned to image files those files will be assigned the topmost alphanumeric named profile in your user folder.

KE_DP wrote
This is not actually a "camera" profile - this is a lightning and color profile for a very particular set of hardware and shooting conditions.
Change lenses? Different color. - Move to a different location? Different lighting etc.
The thing is we are shooting these references, hundreds, thousands of times and just don't want to keep them all around as "presets" since they are created only for very specific conditions.

It's only necessary to create a new camera profile onsite if the lighting is other than daylight or tungsten type. This assumes you are creating dual-illuminant profiles using those light sources. For example fluorescent, mercury vapor will benefit from creating scene referred camera profiles. For most lighting situations simply shooting the ColorChecker or white balance card and using the WB eyedropper to white balance the image will work well. You can test this for yourself by comparing images with the scene referred custom camera profile and a virtual copy using a reference dual-illuminant profile created with Daylight and Tungsten light sources.

Report · Jul 31, 2019

Thanks so much for sharing your process, "placeholder" approach and other info.

It didn't come across, but your default "placeholder" - is exactly what my meaning was, when I said "blank". Obviously nothing can be blank - but neutral settings/default/typical/standard or whatever other alternate wording you choose.... just as you've done in your example!

Thanks again.