Color management on Linux
In Living Color
Get a grasp of color management basics and put your knowledge to practical use.
The purpose of color management is to produce consistent color output across different devices. This definition might sound simple enough, but understanding the mechanics of color management and implementing a color-managed workflow can be a rather complex and confusing affair at times. This article can help you to get an understanding of color management fundamentals and set up a color-managed environment using open source Linux tools.
Color Management Distilled
The need for color management arises from the fundamental problem of color reproduction: a formal representation of a given color (e.g., numeric value of the color in a specific color model) doesn't necessarily produce the same color on different devices for a wide variety of factors. Thus, the primary goal of color management is to achieve a consistent color reproduction across devices. So, for example, a photo taken by a color-managed camera should look the same on a color-managed computer screen.
In a color-managed workflow, each device (e.g., a digital camera and LCD display) has its own color profile that characterizes the color response of that particular device. Each color profile describes these colors relative to a standardized set of reference colors. Color-managed software then uses these standardized profiles to translate color from one device to another. This is usually performed by a color management module [1].
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.
-
Linux Kernel 6.14 Released
The latest Linux kernel has arrived with extra Rust support and more.
-
EndeavorOS Mercury Neo Available
A new release from the EndeavorOS team ships with Plasma 6.3 and other goodies.
-
Fedora 42 Beta Has Arrived
The Fedora Project has announced the availability of the first beta release for version 42 of the open-source distribution.
-
Dash to Panel Maintainer Quits
Charles Gagnon has stepped away as maintainer of the popular Dash to Panel Gnome extension.
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.