CMP Cusrtom Camera Profiling - Calibration Targets

CMP Digital Targets are color targets designed for the calibration and profiling of digital cameras. They allow you to accurately characterize your camera’s color rendering and create custom profiles to achieve more faithful and consistent results throughout your RAW workflow.

The profiles created can improve color accuracy, skin tone rendering, the reproduction of saturated colors, as well as the transition between highlights and shadows. CMP Digital Targets are compatible with the major RAW development and color management software.

The CMP Digital Target range of calibration targets has been available for around fifteen years and has continuously evolved over the years. CMP targets are used throughout the photographic industry, but also in a wide range of industrial applications. Companies and organizations such as Hasselblad, France Télévisions, Dassault, the Thales / Angénieuxgroups, Safran, the CNRS, and many others use these targets for their specific applications.

RAW development software uses its own internal processing workflows and rendering methods, based on the technical and aesthetic choices made by its developers. These choices can sometimes be open to discussion, particularly when it comes to highlight rendering. Using custom camera profiles makes it possible to move beyond these limitations and achieve a more controlled and consistent rendering.

In the example below, simply moving the mouse over the image allows you to see the differences between the native rendering of Lightroom and the same image processed using a CMP profile. Without any other adjustment, the image appears softer, with more refined colors, more nuanced skin tones, better highlight rendering, and more subtle reproduction of variations within highly saturated colors. The result is images that are much easier to work with, thanks to a cleaner and more accurate starting point.

photograph Henri Culubret - Japon, Kyoto
Move your mouse over the image to see the different rendering options

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With proper calibration and carefully chosen parameters when creating the profiles, you can achieve much greater control over color, with accurate colors and a more realistic rendering of tonal values in both the highlights and shadows. Processing your RAW images becomes easier, with the desired final look being easier to achieve — and with significant time saved.

The calibration procedure is simple: After ordering your target, you photograph it following the instructions provided with the target, then you send me your raw file from the target shot. After analyzing and processing the file, the result is a correction profile that you can use in applications compatible with DCP profiles (Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw) or ICC profiles to breathe new life into your images (even those you took before calibration; simply use the profile to develop your old raw files).

CMP Digital Target come with measurement files in Lab and Spectral mode. Digital Target Duo are measured per production batch, while Digital Target Ultimate is measured individually for greater accuracy. These reference files can be used by any compatible ICC/DCP profiling software to create your own profiles.

If you don't want to do your own calibrations, I offer a DCP calibration (compatible with Adobe Photoshop / Lightroom software) for the purchase of a target (1 DCP calibration / 1 camera). You will then have the possibility to order additional calibrations for an affordable price.

CMP DIGITAL TARGET DUO

Made in France, the CMP Digital Target Duo combines exposure control, precise white balance adjustment, and professional DCP profiling in one compact, rugged case. Designed to travel with you, its robust plastic housing protects the target and fits easily into your camera bag, making reliable color control accessible wherever you shoot.

Two complementary panels deliver a complete workflow. The left-hand panel provides practical references for accurate exposure and fine-tuned white balance, helping you preserve the natural atmosphere of every lighting condition. The right-hand panel features 126 color patches for creating custom DCP profiles in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw, improving color accuracy and delivering more faithful, consistent results.

Reliable color data for every production batch. Spectral and Lab measurement files are supplied with the target, with each production batch measured individually. This provides documented colorimetric reference data for a more controlled and reproducible profiling workflow.

Built for real-world photography. Its matte, non-reflective surfaces minimize unwanted glare, making the target easier to use in a wide range of lighting conditions, both on location and in the studio.

From the first exposure to the final RAW adjustment, the CMP Digital Target Duo gives you the references you need to work with greater precision, consistency, and confidence.

An alternative to the popular 24 patches Color Checker target, the CMP Digital Target Duo offers a much larger sample number (126 patches versus 24) and a 25% larger gamut volume. In addition, the accuracy of the measurement files is such that the calibrations resulting from the Digital Target Duo are much more precise and subtle than with competing targets from other brands.

for DCP / Adobe profiles ( also DxO Photolab )
White Balance and exposure control

White balance management

Many photographers use the automatic white balance setting on their cameras and do not necessarily consider fine-tuning it when processing their RAW files. This is a real shame, because automatic white balance neutralizes and standardizes the appearance of your images, regardless of the lighting conditions at the time of shooting. It is therefore important to be able to fine-tune the white balance when processing your images.

The principle is simple, take a first shot of the scene to be photographed with the Digital Target Duo in the field. Then take the shots quite normally. The first view which includes the target will be used to define the appropriate white balance settings according to the shooting conditions. The white and grey patches allow you to fine-tune the white balance using the eyedropper tool in your RAW processing software.

Exposure control

The grey patch has a reflectance of 18%, corresponding to the reference level at which camera light meters are normally calibrated. A spot-meter reading taken from this patch should provide a correct exposure.

The white and black patches are positioned at +2 EV and −2 EV, respectively, relative to the 18% grey patch.

Calibration with Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw

The 126 color ranges allow for the creation of high-quality profiles for Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw software. Adobe's internal workflow allows for limiting the number of color ranges while maintaining very good profile efficiency.

The color rendering of Adobe software used for developing raw files is largely improvable, and highlight details are generally lost. Using custom profiles with "CMP" rendering eliminates these defects characteristic of the digital world. With proper calibration and careful choice of settings when creating profiles, you can achieve ideal color rendering and more realistic highlights.

The user manual is available online via a QR code on the back of the target. You can also access it here.

CMP DIGITAL TARGET ULTIMATE

The new Digital Target Ultimate is the latest addition to CMP’s range of targets for calibrating your digital cameras. It is available on a new glossy substrate without optical brighteners, and measures 22 × 30 cm.

The new color sampling distribution is arranged at 15° intervals, across 3 saturation levels and over a very wide color gamut, with a high Dmax and saturated colors never before seen on camera calibration targets!

Around the perimeter of the target, a black/gray/white checkerboard pattern allows software to evaluate the uniformity of illumination across the target and take it into account when calculating profiles.

For maximum color accuracy, Ultimate targets are individually numbered and supplied with their own individual measurement file. Each target is measured individually during production. Measurements are made using an X-Rite i1Pro spectrophotometer combined with an iO table.

The Digital Target Ultimate consists of 988 color patches and allows the creation of ICC profiles for any compatible application (DxO, Capture One, etc.), as well as DCP profiles that can be used directly in Camera Raw and Lightroom.

Because of its glossy surface, photographing the Digital Target Ultimate is more demanding than photographing a target with a matte surface. However, this limitation is manageable and minor compared with the quality of the profiles obtained. Detailed technical instructions for photographing the target are provided. Why use a glossy surface for a calibration target? A glossy surface provides better color saturation and deeper blacks, resulting in much more accurate profiles, with finer color sampling and better characterization of the shadow areas.

Please note: following the purchase of a target, I provide one free calibration for one camera body for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom (DCP/DNG profiles), which is also compatible with DxO PhotoLab. If you require ICC profiles, you will need to create them yourself using suitable software.

COMPATIBLE SOFTWARES

-Lumariver Profile Designer Software: The Digital Target charts and their measurement files can be used seamlessly in the ICC and DCP profiling software Lumariver Profile Designer (Repro version). Simply select "Custom Target (Grid)" and select the measurement file for your CMP chart (Lab or Spectral). This comprehensive software will allow you to create your own ICC and DCP profiles with all the necessary parameters. Learning the software can be a bit tedious, but the results will be there.

-BasICColor Input 6 Software: Only the CMP Digital Target Ultimate is compatible with INPUT 6. This software will allow you to import your chart measurement files (LAB or Spectral) and create DCP or ICC profiles.

-ARGYLLCMS: you can dowload the .cht file to use the Ultimate target in ArgyllCMP software

The created ICC profiles can be used in applications that handle external ICC profiles, the most well-known being DxO PhotoLab and Capture One, as well as any other raw development software that allows ICC profiles to be inserted into the processing workflow.

DCP profiles created based on shots taken from CMP Digital Target charts are compatible with Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Lightroom. Note that the most recent versions of DxO PhotoLab also allow you to successfully use DCP profiles created for Adobe software.

Examples of CMP profile correction

The pictures below are taken by photographers with whom I worked for the calibration of their digital camera and are published on this page with their agreement. The calculated profiles were applied to the original raw files, depending on the software used for the development, the calibration is either ICC (Capture One and DxO PhotoLab) or DCP (Adobe Lightroom and CameraRaw software). Hover over the image to switch between CMP rendering and standard rendering of the software.