Easier
Editing
Extra
Headroom
Expanded
Toolset
What are Alchemy Color Calibrations?
Alchemy Color Calibrations are a comprehensive set of digital camera profiles and presets for Adobe Camera Raw compatible software.
It offers major upgrades to the built-in profiles and presets with its calibrated color response and versatile embedded curves.
- Adobe Lightroom *
- Adobe Photoshop *
- DxO Photolab **
- Rawtherapee **
- Luminar **
- Any software compatible with .dcp profiles **
* Full compatibility under Adobe Camera Raw: DNG and XMP profiles + XMP presets
** Partial compatibility with other hosts that only accept DNG profile.
Why Alchemy Color?
We offer better raw developer profiles that unlock the full potential of digital cameras. Any discerning professional photographer needs reliable image workflows with predictable results.
Alchemy Color supercharges Adobe’s camera raw engine with a realistic general purpose starting point for edits. Any look can be added later.
ADVANTAGES OF USING ALCHEMY COLOR CALIBRATIONS
Realistic looking images
Having the assurance of realistic looking images from the onset without the guesswork should be the starting point for the photo editing process. Stop overcompensating for a baked-in look from the default profiles.
Better dynamic range
A comprehensive set of tone curves addresses the most common usage scenarios where dynamic range recovery is important. Instead of reflexively dialling down the highlights, you simply apply a profile and recover information without artefacts.
Better high saturation retention
Alchemy Color profiles retain more information in high saturation colours, preventing the usage of local masks and other recovering techniques.
Small sensor cameras come alive
Under reasonable shooting circumstances, smaller sensor cameras produce images that beat expectations. Older, smaller sensors come to life with Alchemy Color.
Single illuminant profiles
Each profile is tailored for a specific illuminant. The problem with dual illuminant profiles derives from the bleed that occurs as you adjust the white balance slider. Even at 5000K, your host software will blend some of the StdA profile, leading to inaccurate colors.
Expanded editing headroom
With Alchemy Color, the editing tools for camera raw behave differently. You’ll find more headroom in each slider, hence less need for extensive manipulation.
Mix and match
Mixing different cameras becomes easier with our unified approach to calibration. Outdated, one-size-fits-all default profiles don’t always help with matching different cameras.
Revive old archives
Purchase profiles for an old camera, go back to your old catalogues and see how much more there is to enjoy in your old photographs.
Calibrated using full spectrum light sources
The profiling process starts with illuminating and shooting a color chart. Exposure happens in a highly controlled environment without any stray light reflections, correctly metered exposure and uniform illumination.
We use a studio quality D50 LED white point light source that closely matches ideal black body radiation, indistinguishable from sunlight and an Std.A halogen bulb with a CRI of 100%.
TM 30-20 full report of D50 illuminant
TM 30-20 full report of StdA illuminant
SuperChroma HR-1
In contrast to conventional charts, the HR-1 is purpose-built for high-end digital cameras and RAW captures. Printed with UltraChrome HDR Epson inks, it provides not only a wide but an even gamut coverage allowing for a precise profiling process.
1130
Color patches with uniformity control
7.2 EV
Dynamic range
Wide Gamut
Larger than AdobeRGB
Gamut Coverage of the HR-1 chart (dotted) against AdobeRGB (wireframe)
What's in the box?
Alchemy Color calibrations are composed of 12 profiles and 12 associated presets. Each of them tackles specific scenarios in image editing. Color calibration is the same for every profile and what changes is the embedded contrast curve.
This curve isn’t the same as the one present in the curve panel in Adobe Camera Raw as its design correlates directly with the way colors are calibrated. With changes in the contrast curve, perceived saturation is perceptually preserved.
Below are before and after exemples where the only thing changes is the underlying profile. The default profile chosen for comparison is Adobe Color.
- A set of 12 .dcp raw profiles with their respective highlight roll-offs
- For daylight illuminants
- 🜃 1. D50 Linear
- 🜃 2. D50 18% Accurate
- 🜃 3. D50 18% Smooth
- 🜃 4. D50 18% Recover
- 🜃 5. D50 18% Film
- 🜃 6. D50 ACR
- For tungsten illuminants
- 🜃 1. StdA Linear
- 🜃 2. StdA 18% Accurate
- 🜃 3. StdA 18% Smooth
- 🜃 4. StdA 18% Recover
- 🜃 5. StdA 18% Film
- 🜃 6. StdA ACR
- A set of 3 Metameric Failure Compensations for lower quality light sources
- Instruction manual
- EULA
1. Linear
- Calibration profile with a linear tone curve
- Ideal for high dynamic range images
- The best profile for high saturation retention
🜃 1. Linear
Adobe Standard
2. 18% Accurate
- Profile that achieves the lowest Delta form the reference values ∆E00 of 1.64 for a Colorchecker SG
- Tone curve places middle grey at the correct point of 46,6% in sRGB when exposure is set correctly in camera
- Useful for colorimetrically accurate artwork reproduction
🜃 2. 18% Accurate
Adobe Portrait
3. 18% Smooth
- Similar to profile 2. Accurate with softer roll-off in the highlights
- Tone curve places middle grey at the correct point of 46,6% in sRGB when exposure is set correctly in camera
- Good baseline profile to start editing with
🜃 3. 18% Smooth
Adobe Standard
4. 18% Recover
- Similar to profile 3. 18 Smooth but with linear highlights
- Tone curve places middle grey at the correct point of 46,6% in sRGB when exposure is set correctly in camera
- The highest highlights recovery without the use of the highlights slider
🜃 4. 18% Recover
Adobe Standard
5. 18% Film
- Film-like curve that enhances mid-tone contrast whilst retaining highlights
- Tone curve places middle grey at the correct point of 46,6% in sRGB when exposure is set correctly in camera
- An alternative to the default Adobe tone curve
🜃 5. 18% Film
Adobe Standard
6. ACR Contrast
- Calibrated color with the familiar Adobe Color contrast curve
- Useful for previous edits created with the default Adobe curve
- Works best on low contrast images
🜃 6. ACR
Adobe Color
Expanded Toolset
🜃 Roll-Offs at 100%
No roll-offs
Dial-in High Saturation and Highlights Roll-offs
Every .dcp profile is loaded with a .xmp preset that adds an extra tool to the Adobe Camera raw dialogue. This slider adds roll-off to high saturation colors and highlights combined.
This transformation operates in the ProPhoto colorspace, guaranteeing a non-clipped transformation.
Metameric Failure Compensations
Including add-ons that compensate for typical color skews of non-optimal light sources. This occurs when two colors that match under one lighting condition appear different under another lighting condition. The underlying reason for this discrepancy lies in the unique spectral distributions of light that compose each color, leading to a perceptible variation in color perception across different lighting sources. Metameric failure affects both human vision and camera systems alike.
Emulate high quality light sources
Compensate for the pitfalls of low quality LEDs and cloudy illuminants with ease.
Fix hue skews
Predictably reduce green skin tones with a simple slider that regulates the intensity of the compensation.
StdA LED Compensation
No Compensation
Get Alchemy Color calibrations for your camera
FAQs
No. Alchemy Color calibrations carry no intentional look. The objective is to provide the most realistic, true to real life color from any raw capable camera.
You will receive a zip file with an EULA, install instructions and various folders that you have to place manually inside your hard drive. You will have to restart any compatible software after copying these files.
Camera Profiles determine the way image processing software transforms raw images. Essentially, they provide instructions on the precise color representation for individual pixels, in relation to the raw data within the original image.
These are files with the .dcp suffix that refers to the acronym DNG Camera Profile. You can find them inside your computer folders.
macOS
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/
/Users/(username)/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/
Windows
C:\Users\%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\
Alchemy Color is 100% compatible with Lightroom and Photoshop.
Highlights roll-off functions are not compatible with DxO, RawTherapee and Luminar
Alchemy Color is an ongoing project. More cameras will be added as we get them in our studio. If you live in Berlin, Germany and want to add your camera to the list, message us as info@alchemycolor.com. You will receive all calibrations and emulations for your camera, for free!
Please follow this troubleshooting list
- Be absolutely sure you got the profiles for your camera brand and model. Remember that all sales are final.
- Follow the installation guide provided in the zip file you downloaded after purchase.
- If you still can’t see your profiles, message us as support@alchemycolor.com
If you want to see Alchemy Color applied to your images, send us raw samples from a supported camera in the product list.
Send us your files through any file delivery service email us at info@alchemycolor.com with your message.
We’ll get back to you with edited samples in TIFF format for review.