Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

For what purpose are profiles used in color management?

1. To enhance color saturation

2. To map one gamut onto another

3. To adjust brightness levels

4. To apply artistic effects

The correct answer is: To map one gamut onto another

Profiles are essential in color management because they provide a standardized way to translate color information between different devices and media. When a profile maps one gamut onto another, it helps ensure that colors are accurately represented when moving from one medium to another, such as from a camera to a monitor or from a monitor to a printer. Each device has its own color gamut, which is the range of colors that it can produce. By using profiles, color management systems can interpret and adjust colors accurately, ensuring consistency and predictability across various devices. This process involves converting colors from the source gamut into the target gamut, allowing for precise color replication regardless of the technology being used. Enhancing color saturation, adjusting brightness levels, or applying artistic effects doesn't directly relate to the fundamental use of profiles in managing color across different platforms and devices. These tasks could be part of post-processing or artistic choices, but they are not the principal function of color profiles within color management workflows.