Using OSX ColorSync Utility to Assign, Apply, Match ICC profiles

All (color) devices have a color space and profile. It is self evident that an RGB device like a monitor will shows color differently to a CMYK device like a printer. The problem is how to ensure that the color is controlled whichever device you show your image on. The solution is to use color profiles, or ICC profiles.

These make allowances for both how many colors the device can display, or colorspace, and what those colors look like ie the diplay profile.

When you take a photo the sensor has a profile which will be stored inside the image, typically sRGB. Most devices can show sRGB OK, and then you need ColorSync to manage the interchange for you.

OSX has applications that are ColorSync aware, and those that are not. In my experience QuickLook (OSX Finder Preview) is not, while Preview is. What this means is that if you show your images on a non sRGB device then colors will look different between the two applications.


OSX offers the ColorSync utility to manage Assign, Apply, Match ICC profiles

Choose what to do with the profile from the first pop-up menu at the bottom of the window.

To choose the ColorSync profile used for an image, choose Assign profile.

ColorSync Utility does not modify the image saved in the file; it changes only the ColorSync profile for the image.

To modify your image so it is matched to a specific ColorSync profile, choose “Match to Profile.”

ColorSync Utility modifies the pixels in the image to match the new color model and ColorSync profile, and then assigns the new ColorSync profile to it.

To modify your image so it is matched to a specific ColorSync profile and then apply the image’s original ColorSync profile to the image, choose Apply Profile.

ColorSync Utility modifies the pixels in the image to match the new color model and ColorSync profile, and then assigns the image’s original ColorSync profile to it.


Choose the profile from the second pop-up menu at the bottom of the window.


Choose the intent of the color profile from the third pop-up menu at the bottom of the window.

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If you want to use the default intent, choose Automatic.

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If you want realistic-looking colors, as in photographs, choose Perceptual.

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If you want to maintain color accuracy, as in logos, choose Relative Colorimetric.

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If you want to maintain the vividness of colors, as in pie graphs and bar graphs, choose Saturation.

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If you’re using color spaces with different white points and want to adjust the colors to account for the difference, use Absolute.