Why should I use Color Chart?

There are two methods to display colors in a photo. The first, tries to show the actual color as accurately as possible. The second shows exaggerated colors to make them more attractive, but not as accurate as in reality.

How your camera records colors is determined by the color and white balance selected during shooting. This is especially important when you save files JPEG. If you use the RAW, you can change these settings when processing the file.Â JPEG.If you use the a RAW, you can change these settings when processing the file.
Each manufacturer has its own name for the settings used for color management. Canon uses Picture Styles, Nikon – Picture Controls, Sony Creative Style, Pentax- Custom Image, Olympus- Picture Mode and Fujifilm – Film Simulation

Now, let's look at Canon's Picture Styles feature as an example. Its Neutral and Faithful Picture Styles are designed to produce relatively accurate colors, but not the others. The Portrait style is designed to create a beautiful complexion, Landscape for bright green and blue colors and Standard for bright red. You won't be able to get accurate colors in portrait, landscape, or standard modes, but you'll get some pretty nice colors.

WHAT IF YOU JUST WANT THE EXACT COLOR?

There are several reasons why a specific color may be important to you.

When photographing something, where color accuracy is needed. For example, shooting of commercial products, packshots, etc.
When photographing flowers, when it is very difficult to show the precise colors.
To be sure that photos taken with two different devices have similar colors.
Or, it is very good to have a photo with exact colors, as a starting photo, so that further processing makes it possible to know which direction to pursue.

WHAT IS X-RITE COLORCHECKER PASSPORT?

The truth is that if you want to get accurate colors, for the reasons mentioned above, you can't rely on your camera settings. You need the assistance of a third party. This is where X-Rite ColorChecker Passport comes to the rescue. This relatively inexpensive, easy-to-use tool is very easy to integrate into Lightroom.

X-Rite ColorChecker Passport is made of gray plastic. If you open it, you will see an exact color palette.

ColorChecker Passport is easy to use. Start by taking a photo of his palette in your photography setup (using RAW format). Next, you need to convert that photo to DNG format (use Lightroom's export option) and drag the DNG file into the ColorChecker Passport program.
The program creates a calibrated profile for your camera and is stored with the other profiles found in the Lightroom Camera Calibration panel. To see the created profile, you'll need to restart Lightroom. You can then apply this profile to any photo taken with the same configuration. The profile is also available in Photoshop ACR, if you suddenly need it.

WHITE BALANCE WITH COLORCHECKER PASSPORT

The last step to get closer to the perfect color is the white balance. You really shouldn't rely on your camera's automatic white balance settings. In photos, where red and blue colors predominate more, the camera can get it wrong.
The ColorChecker Passport is quite small and you can carry it with you and use it at the shooting location to record accurate colors and adjust the white balance. After all, the passport also has another sign that can be used to adjust the white balance.
In Lightroom, adjust the white balance by pipeting a gray sample to 18%. This method provides color and white balance accuracy.

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