Exploring the limits of color accuracy in technical photography

Abstract The growing importance of publishing art collections online has led to increasingly strict tolerances on digital photography objects. There are two internationally recognized sets guidelines for creating high-quality images, Metamorfoze and FADGI. These require using standardized color patches in museal photography. X-Rite ColorChecker SG chart with 140 is often used. Recent studies showed that even conditions it difficult satisfy the strictest accuracy camera profiling, no indications improvements. We report results our investigation into bottlenecks achieving high accuracy. show a large part deviations originates from 15 black chart. have impact average deviation maximum performance measures FADGI guidelines. spectrophotometer measurements produce dE(CIE 1976) ranging 3.7 5.2 respect reference data, making impossible meet push difference CIEDE2000 0.59 0.82 data already when data. Since prescribe an = 2.0, this leaves little tolerance errors due lighting profile. Our indicate common practice manually tweaking profiles until software suggests sufficient obtained suppliers’ does not improve representation but makes worse, especially representing dark nuances. This unfortunate example seventeenth century Dutch paintings, where passages occupy areas works. key step accurate use customer rather than commonly used generic explain by investigating only properties chart, also its glossiness.