Colour Checker
A card of printed patches with known colour values, photographed in a scene to allow accurate colour correction and profiling.
Measured in
patches
In depth
The classic twenty-four-patch chart includes six greys for neutral balance, primaries and secondaries, and two patches formulated to match average skin and foliage. Photographing it once under a given light provides both a white balance reference and the data to build a custom camera profile for that illuminant.
Examples in practice
One frame of a colour checker at the start of a catalogue shoot lets every garment's colour be corrected to the sample.