Masters Academy

Linear Raw Profiles

In this lesson I explain what a linear raw profile is, how to create them, when they might be useful and how to adjust the resulting image. Linear profiles are useful when highlight detail is important or when you encounter an image that contains extreme contrast. The techniques in this lesson only apply to raw files and will not be available to JPEG, TIFF, PSD or any other non-raw file.

The DNG Profile Editor that was used in this lesson can be downloaded from the Digital Negative page where you will the software under the heading of DNG PROFILE EDITOR. At the time the current version of the software was labeled as being released in September of 2012. Many linear profiles are available for download for free on the Linear Profile Repository. I prefer to create my own profiles so that I can name them consistently which allows a single profile favorite to work with multiple camera models.

NOTE: You will override the linear profile if you click the Black & White option in Lightroom or ACR. If you’d like a B&W image, just move the Saturation slider to zero as an alternative.