RAW to Delivery Color
Apply one agreed look across a shoot and export delivery files that match the proof the client approved.
Tools
Capture One, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, ColorChecker
Outcomes
One working color space per job • Reference frame attached to the shoot • Exports match the approved proof • No re-grade on the retouch pass
Documentation
Instruction-ready detail below
What breaks
Every retoucher reads the brief differently, so 200 product shots arrive in six different whites. Proofs look right on a bright laptop and wrong in print, and the correction gets made twice.
What the workflow does
- Fix one working color space and one export recipe per job, and write them into the file.
- Photograph a ColorChecker card in the first frame of the set and keep it with the shoot.
- Pick the frame closest to the target white and use it as the reference.
- Match the rest of the set to that frame rather than to each frame's own white balance.
- Export from the same settings every time, including the embedded profile.
What a human still approves
The colorist chooses the reference frame and signs off on the first export before the batch runs. The workflow removes the re-grade on the retouch pass; it does not decide what the product should look like.