How to get Nikon ICM profiles


 * OBSOLETE : This article is obsolete. It is only valid for old versions of ViewNX 2. Unless someone steps forward to update it to work with current versions of ViewNX 2, it will soon be deleted.

Capture NX 2 and View NX are proprietary Windows software provided for Nikon cameras and are able to accurately develop raw images to match the in-camera rendering. Behind the scenes, both programs generate ICC profiles which incorporate recipes for tonal changes according to their adjustments. Such profiles can be used as input ICC profiles in RawTherapee to lead to almost identical rendering, following the same recipe. The Nikon input ICC profiles are proprietary and cannot be distributed. Fortunately, this software extracts and generates input profiles on-the-fly in a temporary folder at runtime. It is up to you to abide by Nikon's licensing agreement. This process works on registered and trial versions of Capture NX 2 and View NX.


 * 1) First you have to install Capture NX 2 (version 2.3.8 was tested, the trial version is sufficient), but View NX 2 (free) should also work.
 * 2) Open the NEF file in Capture NX 2, and look inside the hidden folder:
 * The temporary ICC profiles will be created in this folder, with filenames similar to this one:
 * Under Windows XP the path differs:
 * 1) Under "Picture Control" click on the "Launch Utility" button. While the utility is running the profiles will temporarily appear in the folders listed above. They appear there because Nikon applies generic profiles to your pictures. These are named "picture control" settings. For example, Capture NX 2 has "neutral", "standard" and "monochrome" profiles. For use with RawTherapee you must simply know that Nikon generates different ICM profiles with every different setting. To ease the choices, the "neutral", "standard", "vivid" and "landscape" settings seem to be similar, apart from the increased saturation and contrast. You can tune the tone curves in RawTherapee, so, in general, a single "neutral" profile should be good starting point.
 * Under Windows XP the path differs:
 * 1) Under "Picture Control" click on the "Launch Utility" button. While the utility is running the profiles will temporarily appear in the folders listed above. They appear there because Nikon applies generic profiles to your pictures. These are named "picture control" settings. For example, Capture NX 2 has "neutral", "standard" and "monochrome" profiles. For use with RawTherapee you must simply know that Nikon generates different ICM profiles with every different setting. To ease the choices, the "neutral", "standard", "vivid" and "landscape" settings seem to be similar, apart from the increased saturation and contrast. You can tune the tone curves in RawTherapee, so, in general, a single "neutral" profile should be good starting point.
 * 1) Under "Picture Control" click on the "Launch Utility" button. While the utility is running the profiles will temporarily appear in the folders listed above. They appear there because Nikon applies generic profiles to your pictures. These are named "picture control" settings. For example, Capture NX 2 has "neutral", "standard" and "monochrome" profiles. For use with RawTherapee you must simply know that Nikon generates different ICM profiles with every different setting. To ease the choices, the "neutral", "standard", "vivid" and "landscape" settings seem to be similar, apart from the increased saturation and contrast. You can tune the tone curves in RawTherapee, so, in general, a single "neutral" profile should be good starting point.

Note: Other settings may also generate new ICM files! You must be particularly aware that pictures shot under artificial lighting will have different profiles, and using such profiles with daylight shots will result in color casts. D-lighting dramatically changes contrast. If in doubt, just open the particular image you want the color profile for in Capture NX 2, and use that profile in RawTherapee. In most cases, a generic color profile will be sufficient.