Creating an Infrared Custom Profile for Lightroom and Photoshop

2019-October-19

Lightroom’s white balance temperature slider doesn’t offer enough range to effectively set a white balance on raw color infrared images. The same issue exists in Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop, which uses the same raw processing engine. In order to set a good white balance for color infrared images, it’s helpful to create a custom color profile. The guide below will step through the process. This video also covers the process.

Update 2021-April-06: You can also download the Infrared Profile Pack.
Update 2021-July-29: Added Troubleshooting tips.

Create DNG Image

You will need a raw file in Adobe’s Digital Negative (DNG) format. If you do not already have a DNG file, you can create one with Lightroom.

Open Lightroom Classic.
Select the Library module from the upper-right corner or by selecting the g key (Grid view) or e key (Loupe view).
Select a raw infrared image.
Under the Library menu, select Convert Photo to DNG.
- Keep the default values.
- Select the OK button.
Close Lightroom.

Download DNG Profile Editor

The Adobe DNG Profile Editor is a free tool which allows you to create custom profiles. It’s available for Mac and Windows. You can download it here:

If you have trouble running the DNG Profile Editor on a Mac, you may need to follow this workaround.

Create Custom Profile

Open the DNG Profile Editor
From the File menu, select Open DNG Image… and select the DNG image you created from the above steps or any infrared DNG image.
Select the Color Table tab.
- Ensure that Base Profile is set to Adobe Standard (your camera model).
- Ensure that Color Table is set to 6500k.
Select the Color Matrices tab.
- Under White Balance Calibration, drag the Temperature slider to -100.
Select the Options tab.
- Set the Profile Name to Infrared or Temp -100, whichever you prefer.
Under the File menu, select Export (your camera model) profile.
- The resulting *.dcp file needs to be saved to a hidden directory.
  - For Mac, use the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + G to display the Go to the folder dialog, then paste the following path:
    ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/CameraProfiles
  - For Windows, paste the following path, replacing {user name} with your Windows user name:
    C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles

In earlier versions of Lightroom and Photoshop for Windows, camera profiles were stored in a different location: C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles

Using the Custom Profile in Lightroom

Open Lightroom. Lightroom reads profiles on startup. If Lightroom was open when you created your custom profile, you will need to close and re-open Lightroom.
Select a raw infrared image.
In the Basic panel, select the Click to show Profile Browser to the right of the Profile selector.
- Click the Profiles section to expand it.
- Select your profile.
Set the white balance for your image:
- Use the picker by clicking the w key and clicking a neutral color on your image.
- Or drag the Temp slider to the desired value.
- For tips on white balancing color infrared images, see Secret to White Balance in Infrared Photography.

Note: If you do not see the profile listed that you just created, ensure that the profile was created with an image created by the same camera model as you are currently viewing. Custom profiles are specific to each model of camera. You only need one profile for your camera. If you have multiple infrared cameras, you will need a custom profile for each camera.

Using the Custom Profile in Photoshop

Open Photoshop. Photoshop reads profiles on startup. If Photoshop was open when you created your custom profile, you will need to close and re-open Photoshop.
Open a raw image. This will open Camera Raw.
In the Basic panel, select the Browse Profiles to the right of the Profile selector.
- Click the Profiles section to expand it.
- Select your profile.
Set the white balance for your image:
- Use the picker by clicking the i key and clicking a neutral color on your image.
- Or drag the Temperature slider to the desired value.
- For tips on white balancing color infrared images, see Secret to White Balance in Infrared Photography.

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Troubleshooting

If you are not able to see your profile in Lightroom or Camera Raw, here are some troubleshooting tips.

The profile is not saved in the correct location.

Double check that the profile location matches the locations listed above. You may place profiles in subdirectories within the above location and they should still be found, but this is optional.

The profile doesn’t match the image.

The camera model is stored within every profile and raw image. For a profile to be visible with an image, the camera model in the profile must match the camera model in the image. You cannot use profiles from different cameras, even if they are similar models. They must be the same model. Lightroom and Camera Raw will only display profiles if the camera model exactly matches.

Software wasn’t restarted.

Lightroom and Photoshop Camera Raw only load profiles when they are launched. If you add a profile to the appropriate location with the program open, the program will not see the profile. You must close and restart Lightroom or Photoshop in order the see the profile in that program.

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