-jpgfromraw, -tagsfromfile and Color Management

[Andreas]

I struggle with extracting color manageable JPEG images from NEF files. For this I started with a slightly modified version of the example in the exiftool application documentation:

exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f.jpg -overwrite_original -common_args some-dir/*.nef

The results are usable to some extent for raw files right out of the camera as long as I use sRGB there. Not all applications in my environment find a color space tag in the extracted JPEG files but most of them read (or assume) sRGB.

Things get more complicated when I extract preview images from NEF files after editing them in Capture NX 2. Capture NX updates the embedded preview in the working space, which is mostly ProPhoto RGB here. The extracted JPEGs look reasonable in exiftool: -ICC_Profile:all shows the details of an embedded ProPhoto profile, -ExifIfd:ColorSpace still shows sRGB, which I understand as a remainder of the camera generated EXIF header. Sadly my applications don't see the ProPhoto profile in the JPEG files and render the images wrong -- either following the sRGB flag in the EXIF header or falling back to their defaults.

After some try and error I ended up with:

exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -all:all "-colorspace<colorspace" -srcfile %d%f.jpg -execute -if '$profiledescription' -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile -colorspace=Uncalibrated -srcfile %d%f.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original some-dir/*.nef

This does what I want but it seems strange to me in some details:

1. After -tagsfromfile @ -all:all it makes no sense for me to copy the ColorSpace tag again (-colorspace<colorspace), but afterwards all of my applications see the color space flag in the resulting JPEG.

2. The same with -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile after -tagsfromfile @ -all:all. It seems odd but double copying makes the embedded profile accessible for my applications.

Setting -ColorSpace to "Uncalibrated" for files with an embedded profile makes sense for me, as the color space flag might be a relict from the camera file and we should not need a specific EXIF flag with a proper profile embedded.

Although I can live with the results, my "solution" looks quite cumbersome. Is there a better answer to my problem?

- Andreas
exiftool 9.06, Mac OS X 10.6.8

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Andreas,

exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -all:all "-colorspace<colorspace" -srcfile %d%f.jpg -execute -if '$profiledescription' -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile -colorspace=Uncalibrated -srcfile %d%f.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original some-dir/*.nef

1. After -tagsfromfile @ -all:all it makes no sense for me to copy the ColorSpace tag again (-colorspace<colorspace), but afterwards all of my applications see the color space flag in the resulting JPEG.

I don't see how the -colorspace<colorspace changes anything at all.  It would if ColorSpace was an "unsafe" tag, but it isn't.  If this were necessary, simply using -colorspace would achieve the same result as -colorspace<colorspace.

2. The same with -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile after -tagsfromfile @ -all:all. It seems odd but double copying makes the embedded profile accessible for my applications.

You should be able to add -icc_profile to the first command with the same result.  I suggest comparing the output files using exiftool to see if there are any differences.  There are too many variables if you are using other software for the comparison.  If you have a "diff" utility, do this:

exiftool -a -G1 test1.jpg > test1.out
exiftool -a -G1 test2.jpg > test2.out
diff test1.out test2.out

Setting -ColorSpace to "Uncalibrated" for files with an embedded profile makes sense for me, as the color space flag might be a relict from the camera file and we should not need a specific EXIF flag with a proper profile embedded.

- Phil

[Andreas]

Hi Phil,

thank you very much for your help! Inspecting the extracted JPEGs with exiftool -a -G1 and diff-ing the output did help me to streamline my exiftool commands. What still puzzles me is that I cannot copy an embedded ICC-Profile in one go that is recognized by my applications.

Let me demonstrate this on the basis of a NEF file that was edited in Capture NX 2. (Note: When saving an edited raw file Capture NX creates a new JPEG preview in its working space -- ProPhoto RGB here -- and embedds the color space's ICC profile into the JPEG preview of the raw file.)


-- Test 1:

This is a slightly modified version of the example in the exiftool application documentation.

$ exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test1.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f_test1.jpg -overwrite_original -common_args edited-in-cnx2.nef

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    1 output files created
    1 image files updated

$ exiftool -a -G1 edited-in-cnx2_test1.jpg >edited-in-cnx2_test1.out
$ fgrep -e 'Color Space' -e 'ICC' <edited-in-cnx2_test1.out

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[ExifIFD]       Color Space                     : sRGB
[Nikon]         Color Space                     : sRGB
[ICC-header]    Profile CMM Type                : KCMS
[ICC-header]    Profile Version                 : 2.1.0
[ICC-header]    Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
[ICC-header]    Color Space Data                : RGB
[ICC-header]    Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
[ICC-header]    Profile Date Time               : 1998:12:01 18:58:21
[ICC-header]    Profile File Signature          : acsp
[ICC-header]    Primary Platform                : Microsoft Corporation
[ICC-header]    CMM Flags                       : Not Embedded, Independent
[ICC-header]    Device Manufacturer             : KODA
[ICC-header]    Device Model                    : ROMM
[ICC-header]    Device Attributes               : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
[ICC-header]    Rendering Intent                : Perceptual
[ICC-header]    Connection Space Illuminant     : 0.9642 1 0.82487
[ICC-header]    Profile Creator                 : KODA
[ICC-header]    Profile ID                      : 0
[ICC_Profile]   Profile Copyright               : Copyright (c) Eastman Kodak Company, 1999, all rights reserved.
[ICC_Profile]   Profile Description             : ProPhoto RGB
[ICC_Profile]   Media White Point               : 0.9642 1 0.82489
[ICC_Profile]   Red Tone Reproduction Curve     : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile]   Green Tone Reproduction Curve   : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile]   Blue Tone Reproduction Curve    : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile]   Red Matrix Column               : 0.79767 0.28804 0
[ICC_Profile]   Green Matrix Column             : 0.13519 0.71188 0
[ICC_Profile]   Blue Matrix Column              : 0.03134 9e-05 0.82491
[ICC_Profile]   Device Mfg Desc                 : KODAK
[ICC_Profile]   Device Model Desc               : Reference Output Medium Metric(ROMM)
[ICC_Profile]   Make And Model                  : (Binary data 40 bytes, use -b option to extract)

This looks reasonable except for "Color Space: sRGB" which I reckon is a relict of the camera file's EXIF header. My applications ignore the embedded ProPhoto profile and trust the sRGB flag instead: iView MediaPro 3.1.3 reads "Color Profile: sRGB" and renders the image in sRGB. Photoshop CS 5.1 reads "Embedded: sRGB" which is a profile mismatch here and asks what to do.

Next let's compare exiftool's output to the output for a JPEG which I exported from the edited raw file in Capture NX:
$ exiftool -a -G1 exported-from-cnx2.jpg >exported-from-cnx2.out
$ diff edited-in-cnx2_test1.out exported-from-cnx2.out

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2c2
< [System]        File Name                       : edited-in-cnx2_test1.jpg
---
> [System]        File Name                       : exported-from-cnx2.jpg
... (skip) ...
47c52,54
< [ExifIFD]       Color Space                     : sRGB
---
> [ExifIFD]       Color Space                     : Uncalibrated
... (skip) ...
There are more differences which I skipped here because I suppose they are of no importance.


-- Test 2:

Same as test 1, but get rid of the sRGB flag in the EXIF data:

$ exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test2.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f_test2.jpg -execute -if '$profiledescription' -colorspace=Uncalibrated -srcfile %d%f_test2.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original edited-in-cnx2.nef

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    1 output files created
    1 image files updated
    1 image files updated

$ exiftool -a -G1 edited-in-cnx2_test2.jpg >edited-in-cnx2_test2.out
$ diff edited-in-cnx2_test1.out edited-in-cnx2_test2.out

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2c2
< [System]        File Name                       : edited-in-cnx2_test1.jpg
---
> [System]        File Name                       : edited-in-cnx2_test2.jpg
5c5
< [System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2012:11:28 11:41:08+01:00
---
> [System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2012:11:28 12:09:56+01:00
47c47
< [ExifIFD]       Color Space                     : sRGB
---
> [ExifIFD]       Color Space                     : Uncalibrated

This looks perfect to me. exiftool reports an embedded ProPhoto Profile and no sRGB flag in the EXIF data. But: iView MediaPro sees no color profile in edited-in-cnx2_test2.jpg and renders the image in sRGB (by default?). Photoshop says "edited-in-cnx2_test2.jpg does not have an embedded RGB profile" and asks what to do. For some reason the embedded ProPhoto profile is not recognized by my applications.


-- Test 3:

Same as test 2, but explicitly copy the ICC profile (again):

$ exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test3.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -All:all -icc_profile -srcfile %d%f_test3.jpg -execute -if '$profiledescription' -colorspace=Uncalibrated -srcfile %d%f_test3.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original edited-in-cnx2.nef

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    1 output files created
    1 image files updated
    1 image files updated

Processing gets noticeably slower but the resulting JPEG is correctly color managed in my applications: iView MediaPro and Photoshop see an embedded profile for ProPhoto RGB and render the image accordingly. What seems odd to me, is that we now have two identical color profiles embedded:

$ exiftool -a -G1 edited-in-cnx2_test3.jpg >edited-in-cnx2_test3.out
$ diff edited-in-cnx2_test2.out edited-in-cnx2_test3.out

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2c2
< [System]        File Name                       : edited-in-cnx2_test2.jpg
---
> [System]        File Name                       : edited-in-cnx2_test3.jpg
5c5
< [System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2012:11:28 12:09:56+01:00
---
> [System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2012:11:28 14:43:20+01:00
28a29
> [IFD0]          Date/Time Original              : 2012:10:21 15:38:30
40a42
> [ExifIFD]       Flash                           : No Flash
63d64
< [ExifIFD]       Serial Number                   : 6012530
234,251c235,262
< [XMP-x]         XMP Toolkit                     : Image::ExifTool 9.06
< [XMP-exif]      Flash Fired                     : False
< [XMP-exif]      Flash Function                  : False
< [XMP-exif]      Flash Mode                      : Unknown
< [XMP-exif]      Flash Red Eye Mode              : False
< [XMP-exif]      Flash Return                    : No return detection
< [XMP-tiff]      Bits Per Sample                 : 14
< [XMP-tiff]      Compression                     : Nikon NEF Compressed
< [XMP-tiff]      Image Height                    : 2868
< [XMP-tiff]      Image Width                     : 4352
< [XMP-tiff]      Photometric Interpretation      : Color Filter Array
< [XMP-tiff]      Planar Configuration            : Chunky
< [XMP-tiff]      Samples Per Pixel               : 1
< [XMP-tiff]      Y Cb Cr Positioning             : Centered
< [XMP-crs]       Crop Bottom                     : 2000
< [XMP-crs]       Crop Left                       : 0
< [XMP-crs]       Crop Right                      : 3008
< [XMP-crs]       Crop Top                        : 0
---
> [ICC-header2]   Profile CMM Type                : KCMS
> [ICC-header2]   Profile Version                 : 2.1.0
> [ICC-header2]   Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
> [ICC-header2]   Color Space Data                : RGB
> [ICC-header2]   Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
> [ICC-header2]   Profile Date Time               : 1998:12:01 18:58:21
> [ICC-header2]   Profile File Signature          : acsp
> [ICC-header2]   Primary Platform                : Microsoft Corporation
> [ICC-header2]   CMM Flags                       : Not Embedded, Independent
> [ICC-header2]   Device Manufacturer             : KODA
> [ICC-header2]   Device Model                    : ROMM
> [ICC-header2]   Device Attributes               : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
> [ICC-header2]   Rendering Intent                : Perceptual
> [ICC-header2]   Connection Space Illuminant     : 0.9642 1 0.82487
> [ICC-header2]   Profile Creator                 : KODA
> [ICC-header2]   Profile ID                      : 0
> [ICC_Profile2]  Profile Copyright               : Copyright (c) Eastman Kodak Company, 1999, all rights reserved.
> [ICC_Profile2]  Profile Description             : ProPhoto RGB
> [ICC_Profile2]  Media White Point               : 0.9642 1 0.82489
> [ICC_Profile2]  Red Tone Reproduction Curve     : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
> [ICC_Profile2]  Green Tone Reproduction Curve   : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
> [ICC_Profile2]  Blue Tone Reproduction Curve    : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
> [ICC_Profile2]  Red Matrix Column               : 0.79767 0.28804 0
> [ICC_Profile2]  Green Matrix Column             : 0.13519 0.71188 0
> [ICC_Profile2]  Blue Matrix Column              : 0.03134 9e-05 0.82491
> [ICC_Profile2]  Device Mfg Desc                 : KODAK
> [ICC_Profile2]  Device Model Desc               : Reference Output Medium Metric(ROMM)
> [ICC_Profile2]  Make And Model                  : (Binary data 40 bytes, use -b option to extract)
255d265
< [Composite]     Flash                           : No Flash


Or, to put it another way:
$ fgrep -e 'Color Space' -e 'ICC' <edited-in-cnx2_test3.out

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[ExifIFD]       Color Space                     : Uncalibrated
[Nikon]         Color Space                     : sRGB
[ICC-header]    Profile CMM Type                : KCMS
[ICC-header]    Profile Version                 : 2.1.0
[ICC-header]    Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
[ICC-header]    Color Space Data                : RGB
[ICC-header]    Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
[ICC-header]    Profile Date Time               : 1998:12:01 18:58:21
[ICC-header]    Profile File Signature          : acsp
[ICC-header]    Primary Platform                : Microsoft Corporation
[ICC-header]    CMM Flags                       : Not Embedded, Independent
[ICC-header]    Device Manufacturer             : KODA
[ICC-header]    Device Model                    : ROMM
[ICC-header]    Device Attributes               : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
[ICC-header]    Rendering Intent                : Perceptual
[ICC-header]    Connection Space Illuminant     : 0.9642 1 0.82487
[ICC-header]    Profile Creator                 : KODA
[ICC-header]    Profile ID                      : 0
[ICC_Profile]   Profile Copyright               : Copyright (c) Eastman Kodak Company, 1999, all rights reserved.
[ICC_Profile]   Profile Description             : ProPhoto RGB
[ICC_Profile]   Media White Point               : 0.9642 1 0.82489
[ICC_Profile]   Red Tone Reproduction Curve     : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile]   Green Tone Reproduction Curve   : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile]   Blue Tone Reproduction Curve    : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile]   Red Matrix Column               : 0.79767 0.28804 0
[ICC_Profile]   Green Matrix Column             : 0.13519 0.71188 0
[ICC_Profile]   Blue Matrix Column              : 0.03134 9e-05 0.82491
[ICC_Profile]   Device Mfg Desc                 : KODAK
[ICC_Profile]   Device Model Desc               : Reference Output Medium Metric(ROMM)
[ICC_Profile]   Make And Model                  : (Binary data 40 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC-header2]   Profile CMM Type                : KCMS
[ICC-header2]   Profile Version                 : 2.1.0
[ICC-header2]   Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
[ICC-header2]   Color Space Data                : RGB
[ICC-header2]   Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
[ICC-header2]   Profile Date Time               : 1998:12:01 18:58:21
[ICC-header2]   Profile File Signature          : acsp
[ICC-header2]   Primary Platform                : Microsoft Corporation
[ICC-header2]   CMM Flags                       : Not Embedded, Independent
[ICC-header2]   Device Manufacturer             : KODA
[ICC-header2]   Device Model                    : ROMM
[ICC-header2]   Device Attributes               : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
[ICC-header2]   Rendering Intent                : Perceptual
[ICC-header2]   Connection Space Illuminant     : 0.9642 1 0.82487
[ICC-header2]   Profile Creator                 : KODA
[ICC-header2]   Profile ID                      : 0
[ICC_Profile2]  Profile Copyright               : Copyright (c) Eastman Kodak Company, 1999, all rights reserved.
[ICC_Profile2]  Profile Description             : ProPhoto RGB
[ICC_Profile2]  Media White Point               : 0.9642 1 0.82489
[ICC_Profile2]  Red Tone Reproduction Curve     : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile2]  Green Tone Reproduction Curve   : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile2]  Blue Tone Reproduction Curve    : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
[ICC_Profile2]  Red Matrix Column               : 0.79767 0.28804 0
[ICC_Profile2]  Green Matrix Column             : 0.13519 0.71188 0
[ICC_Profile2]  Blue Matrix Column              : 0.03134 9e-05 0.82491
[ICC_Profile2]  Device Mfg Desc                 : KODAK
[ICC_Profile2]  Device Model Desc               : Reference Output Medium Metric(ROMM)
[ICC_Profile2]  Make And Model                  : (Binary data 40 bytes, use -b option to extract)

Obviously the first color profile is ignored by my applications while the second one is respected. I wonder if there is a universal way (i.e. not NEF specific) to transfer all relevant metadata from raw to the extracted JPEG whithout embedding the color profile for a second time. Besides the increased processing time I am concerned about potential side effects of two color profiles in one image file.

- Andreas
exiftool 9.06, Mac OS X 10.6.8

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Andreas,

Good detective work!

In your command:

exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test1.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f_test1.jpg -overwrite_original -common_args edited-in-cnx2.nef

the standard ICC_Profile information will not be copied since ICC_Profile is an "unsafe" tag that is only copied if you specify it by name on the command line.  The only reason I can see that you find ICC_Profile information in the JPG after this command is that it exists inside the proprietary Nikon information (which is copied by this command).  If so, applications will likely not recognize this profile (as you have apparently discovered).

I would suggest trying this:

exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test2.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -all -icc_profile -srcfile %d%f_test2.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original edited-in-cnx2.nef

Yes, you may have 2 ICC_Profile's after this command, but the proprietary Nikon one will probably be ignored by everything except Nikon software.

There are a few ways you could determine where the ICC_Profile is stored.  The easiest standard way may be the -v option.  (Another way would be the experimental and undocumented -G5 option.) The standard location is in the JPEG APP2 segment.

If you email me the original NEF I can play with this myself (philharvey66 at gmail.com).  It may be worthwhile to try excluding the Nikon Capture information with --nikoncapture:all after -all in the command.

- Phil

[Andreas]

Hi Phil,

Thank you very much again!

I would suggest trying this:

exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test2.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -all -icc_profile -srcfile %d%f_test2.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original edited-in-cnx2.nef

$ exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test4.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -all -icc_profile -srcfile %d%f_test4.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original edited-in-cnx2.nef
$ exiftool -a -G1 edited-in-cnx2_test4.jpg >edited-in-cnx2_test4.out

This is indeed more streamlined than test no. 3 and gives me nearly the same results: I end up with two embedded ICC profiles plus the ancient EXIF flag for sRGB which is properly ignored by my applications rendering the JPEG in a ProPhoto space.

There are a few ways you could determine where the ICC_Profile is stored.  The easiest standard way may be the -v option.  (Another way would be the experimental and undocumented -G5 option.) The standard location is in the JPEG option.) The standard location is in the JPEG APP2 segment.

$ exiftool -a -G5 edited-in-cnx2.nef | fgrep -e 'ICC'

Actually it looks like there where two instances of a ProPhoto Profile in the edited NEF: one in [TIFF-IFD0-ExifIFD-MakerNotes-NikonICCProfile-ICC_Profile] and another one in [TIFF-IFD0-ICC_Profile].

$ exiftool -a -G5 exported-from-cnx2.jpg | fgrep -e 'ICC'

When I export the edited NEF from Capture NX the ICC profile is in [JPEG-APP2-ICC_Profile].

It may be worthwhile to try excluding the Nikon Capture information with --nikoncapture:all after -all in the command.

$ exiftool -if '$jpgfromraw' -b -jpgfromraw -w! %d%f_test5.jpg -execute -tagsfromfile @ -all --nikoncapture:all -icc_profile -srcfile %d%f_test5.jpg -common_args -overwrite_original edited-in-cnx2.nef
$ exiftool -a -G1 edited-in-cnx2_test5.jpg >edited-in-cnx2_test5.out
$ diff edited-in-cnx2_test4.out edited-in-cnx2_test5.out

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2c2
< [System]        File Name                       : edited-in-cnx2_test4.jpg
---
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Unfortunately nothing to write home about.

If you email me the original NEF I can play with this myself (philharvey66 at gmail.com).

My edited NEF is on its way to you!

- Andreas
exiftool 9.06, Mac OS X 10.6.8

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Andreas,

This is indeed more streamlined than test no. 3 and gives me nearly the same results: I end up with two embedded ICC profiles plus the ancient EXIF flag for sRGB which is properly ignored by my applications rendering the JPEG in a ProPhoto space.

This is probably what you want then.

Actually it looks like there where two instances of a ProPhoto Profile in the edited NEF: one in [TIFF-IFD0-ExifIFD-MakerNotes-NikonICCProfile-ICC_Profile] and another one in [TIFF-IFD0-ICC_Profile].

Right.  Now that I can play with this, I see where the other profile is located.  The profiles are identical:

Code Select Expand

> exiftool a.nef -icc_profile -b > a.icc
> exiftool a.nef -nikoniccprofile -b > b.icc
> diff -s a.icc b.icc
Files a.icc and b.icc are identical

In general, ExifTool won't delete individual tags from the maker notes, so you either have to live with the redundant ICC profile or forgo the maker notes entirely by adding --makernotes when copying the metadata.

It may be worthwhile to try excluding the Nikon Capture information with --nikoncapture:all after -all in the command.

Unfortunately nothing to write home about.

Yes.  The profile wasn't in the Nikon Capture information after all -- it was in the regular Nikon information.  (But I'm not sure this would have worked anyway for the same reason that NikonICCProfile can't be deleted.)

- Phil

[Andreas]

Hi Phil,

Thank you for looking into the NEF file yourself!

In general, ExifTool won't delete individual tags from the maker notes, so you either have to live with the redundant ICC profile or forgo the maker notes entirely by adding --makernotes when copying the metadata.

I'm not quite sure, whether I really need any makernotes with those JPEG files. I'll implement the exiftool command from test no. 4 into my scripts, then do same with a variant which excludes the makernotes in total and test the results in some complete workflows. However, I will get what I want.

What a great tool exiftool is and most notably what an outstanding support by yourself!
Thanks again

- Andreas