Profile Properties Profiles can have different kinds of information in them. Recall that different types of profiles, such as a profile for a scanner or a profile for a printer, have different sets of minimum required tags and their element data. However, all profiles have at least a header followed by a required element tag table. The required tags may represent lookup tables, for example. The required tags for various profile types are described in the International Color Consortium Profile Format Specification .
Profiles contain additional information, such as a specification for how to apply matching.
Profiles may also have a series of optional and private tagged elements. These private tagged elements may contain custom information used by particular color management modules. It is important to note that private tags limit the cross-platform portability of a profile and that, for this reason, Apple Computer, Inc. discourages use of them. The ColorSync Manager uses profiles that follow the format defined by the International Color Consortium. See the International Color Consortium Profile Format Specification for more information.