What are DNG profiles?

Original Camera Raw photos are dark (Linear), black and white, and have almost no processing applied.

The first step of any Raw processing software, is to apply fundamental processing. In this stage, the developing software (LR, PS or any other) is rendering color, correcting White Balance, applying some filtering and further processing, depending of the specific software. This doesn't produce anything better then this:

The next step is where the magic lays!
Before creating the RGB image (the one you can actually use), Photoshop and Lightroom use a DNG profile to create the initial color and brightness of your images. You can think of DNG profiles as the software's digital "glasses" that helps the software "look" at the Raw data and produce a colored image.

Basically, there are 2 types of DNG profiles:

1. Standard profiles, such as camera profiles which contain PERCEPTUAL data.

2. Creative profiles,  which contain CREATIVE data. This means that the image is already applied with creative adjustments before you ever needed to do anything.

Standard profiles applied

Creative profile applied

The major benefit of using DNG profiles is that processing is made directly on Raw data.

Standard Profiles (or Camera Profiles)

Both Lightroom and Photoshop allow you to use a set of specific camera model color profiles (for many camera models, not for all of them…). If you use a Canon camera, you get Canon's basic Picture Styles - Faithful, Landscape, Neutral, Portrait and Standard. If you use a Nikon camera, you get Nikon's basic styles - Mode I, II, III, Landscape, Neutral, Portrait, Standard and Vivid. These DNG profiles are designed to reproduce in-camera processing and create a "JPEG like" image from the Raw file.

These profiles can be reached from the Camera Calibration tab in LR or PS:

If you use a camera made by less common manufacturers, such as Sony, Pentax, Panasonic and others, you barely get a Camera Standard profile from Adobe, for now.

The question we at PSKiss asked ourselves was, what happens when you use a DNG profiles of another camera model to develop an image?

For example, how will a photo taken with Canon 40D look after appling a Leica M8 profile to it? How will a Leica M8 file look if you apply a Nikon D3 Mode II profile to it? How will a Canon 1Ds mark 4 file look when you apply a Nikon D3 Portrait to it? I guess you got the point by now… Crossing colors between camera models, can do magic to photos. Lets take a look at some samples.

Sample #1 - Studio Portrait
This portrait was taken with Canon EOS 40D. Intuitively, I selected Camera Portrait. This was the result:

Using Nikon D3 Portrait, produced much better density of skin tone, better distribution of light and much better colors (to my eyes):

Sample #2 - Live concert

Again, Canon 40D, so I used Camera Standard:

Using Leica M8 profile, improved density and color, without changing anything else in the Develop module:

Sample #3 - Landscape
This photo was taken by Haim Ziv with Nikon D2H. Using Camera Landscape produced this:

Using Nikon D3 Landscape profile produced a better image, yet too saturated for me:

Using Leica M8 profile, produced a "film look" which suites me better (you can think I am totally wrong, and choose any other profile…):

Sample #4 - Red Flower

This photo was taken about 8 years ago with Canon EOS 300D. Using any profile but Camera Faithful, produced a flat red patch. Camera Faithful managed to realize there were some details in the red flower:

Using Canon 1Ds Mark 3 Faithful profile, produced a better red color and exposed even more details (only reasonable when remembering it costs 8 times more…):

These profiles and more are a part of PSKiss Cross Camera Color profile pack

Creative Profiles

Why start with Camera profiles? Why settle for Defaults? We as photography enthusiasts, like to experiment with new creative looks of our photos. Most people are familiar with Lightroom Presets, which are a good source for creative looks, however, they work on the already developed image. DNG profiles on the other hand, work directly on the Raw data and produce an initial creatively developed image. From this point, you can adjust your image as you like. The start point is totally different then any other develop method.

Lets take a look at some samples.

Sample # 1 - Portrait

This portrait taken by Doron Saar with Nikon D90. Using Camera Portrait produced this result:

In these variations, I used 2 different creative profiles (without making any further adjustments):

PSKiss Dark Skin 1

PSKiss Powered Skin & Lips

Sample # 2 - Live preforming dancer

This photo was taken in very difficult light conditions. Developing it with a creative DNG profile demonstrates how creative and technical can work together very well…

Developed with Adobe Standard

To be perfectly honest, this wasn't a "click-n-go" solution. I used PSKiss Cool BrightUp profiles and afterwards made quite a few adjustments:

The final image

The process:

Please note that the first step was selecting the DNG profile in the Camera Calibration tab. Although located last, it is recommended to start with it and then go through all the other tabs of the Develop module (or ACR window if you use Photoshop or Elements).

Sample #3 - Landscape

This photo was taken by Max Penson with Leica M8. This is how it looks when using Leica M8 Standard profile:

In these variations, I used 2 different creative profiles (without making any further adjustments):

PSKiss Velvia Touch

PSKiss Vivid Landcape Mode 1

Sample #4 - Street photograph

This photo was taken by Gil Lavi in the streets of New York City with Leica M8. The standard camera profiles provided a superb photo:

I tried to give it an old vintage look so I used PSKiss Vintage 1. To complete the look, I added some Post-Crop Vignette, some Grain and Clarity:

These creative profiles are a part of PSKiss Skin & Scenery Color profile pack

Closing Words

DNG profiles are very powerful tools that let you to expand your creativity in various directions, from using different camera colors all the way to totally creative color schemes. You also enjoy a faster workflow, better utilization of ACR and Lightroom tools and much more flexibility on the way. This doesn't mean that you can't work without them. Sometimes, the basic camera profiles will get you where you want to go, but what happens when they don't? Quite a problem. From my personal experience, once you start implemeting these profiles into your workflow, you will find more and more surprises. I still find new ones almost every day…

© Tal Ninio

About the Author

Tal Ninio is the co-founder and CEO of PSKiss.com

Tal started working as a pre-press technician in 1988, by 1990 opened my own pre-press lab, in 1993 converted to DTP specializing in image editing and digital pre-press, it all began with Photoshop 2.5, QuarkXPress 2.0 and FreeHand 3 all on a Macintosh Quadra 800 (With E-Machines graphic accelerator. A mean machine!), in 1994 implemented a Scitex Dolev system at a service bureau, in 1995 wrote his first Photoshop book and started teaching, in 1997 published the first technical book in Israel that was fully digitally produced, in 1999 co-founded Mentor College and stayed there until 2010, in 2002 launched the first professional convention and expo which became the largest event of the visual arts industry in the country. A photoshop Certified Expert. 16 years of experience teaching in training centers, businesses, institutes, advertising agencies and art academies. Author of 10 Photoshop visual guide books (versions 3 to CS4). Author of  Photoshop CookBook 1 & Photoshop CookBook 2.

View Tal's personal blog at http://talninio.blogspot.com/