A color reference is a color-accurate image used to guide retouchers and post-production teams in matching an asset's colors to the physical product. Rather than relying on memory or approximation, editors work against a known-good image–reducing back-and-forth and keeping color output consistent across a shoot.

In Creative Force, the color reference file travels with a product through its production lifecycle. Once available, it appears in relevant places for stakeholders to review, such as in Hue at Internal Post, in the Task screen during QC, and as an available reference file during External Post-Production.

When setting up an internal Color Reference process, the first place that you can define the behavior is in the Workspace settings. Head to Studio Settings → Workspace → 'Edit' the Workspace → then, access the Color Reference Tab.

Here, you can control the migration and sourcing settings for your Color References. There are two distinct options, each with its own toggle to enable or disable.

With your migration settings set, you can begin to set the color reference behavior for ecom productions by heading into an applicable Style Guide.

'Edit' Style Guide → Settings → then, select the Color Matching tab

In the color matching tab, you will be able to enable or disable whether productions on this Style Guide will supply and produce Color References. Once enabled, more options will become available for further configuration.

The 'When no color reference is available' setting allows you to select one of two configuration options for how productions without a color reference behave.

The 'approach' setting allows you to select one of four configuration options for how the color reference will be sourced and supplied. They can be grouped into two general approach categories: Use From and Request From.

The Request From methods trigger production to shoot a new, dedicated color-reference capture– this is supplied in Kelvin during the capture step.

The Use From methods reuse an image that's already been selected/approved in workflow as the color reference– no extra shot is required during the capture step.

When the approach is selected from the 'Use From' categories, additional configuration of a Color Accurate Step must also be defined, and an additional 'Allow Selecting Multiple' toggle can be enabled or disabled.

The Color Accurate Step is a setting you choose only when you pick one of the Use From approaches. Because a version of the asset is produced and saved to Creative Force at the end of every workflow step, the color-accurate setting allows you to define which workflow step's version of the asset should be used.

The available options in the drop-down are pulled in directly from the selected Production Type's configured Workflow.

When selecting either approach, you will be expected to flag specific photography positions as the source for your color references.

Head into the Production Type tab for an associated production → in the Capture Tab, navigate to the desired position → then hit the color reference icon to flag it.

This setting is only available when you pick one of the Use From approaches. When this is enabled, you can mark more than one position in a production type as eligible, and at runtime, the system picks the first available to use as the color reference.

This setting is useful for Style Guide Settings that utilize conditional rules for positions. If you only flagged one position and that position is not active due to conditional rules, you'd have no color reference. By allowing multiple, you give the system a prioritized list of candidates.

For productions utilizing a Workflow with External Post-Production, there will be additional configuration options available.

Head to the associated Production Type tab, then External Post. With the Vendor selected in the top left corner, select the Options Icon next to it.
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Once your color reference settings have been configured in the Studio Settings and your Style Guides, you may run into situations where your production's color references need further review or intervention.

If the configuration has been set to Pause & Wait and a production reaches a post-production workflow step prior to a color reference being available, the production will adopt a status of “Awaiting Color Reference."

The Awaiting Color Reference status places the production in limbo, where it will not initiate the Workflow step until a color reference has been added. This means the files will not be sent to external post, and internal retouchers will not be able to select or start the task in Hue.

If the task completion is time sensitive, and you can not wait for the reference to be supplied via the requested production, Creative Force allows you one of two options.

With the paused production pulled up on the Production page, right-click to access the selection menu → then, select 'Process Without Color Reference.'

Productions in the Awaiting Color Reference status can also be processed in bulk. First, use the Production Filters → 'Current Step Status' = Awaiting Color Reference, then use the multi-select tool → Actions button + 'Process Without Color Reference.'

From the Product Tab, navigate to the Product Overview, then scroll down the overview to the 'Color Reference' section.

Hit 'Add' then select one of the two supported options to manually add the color reference file.

When productions have or require a color reference file, the information is communicated visually across all applications, depending on the configuration settings and the application.

When the approach is set as Request From, an additional area will load alongside the photography positions. The color reference file can be added to it and submitted at transfer.

When a retoucher has an open task related to a production with a Color Reference, it will be visible in the color reference section of the Hue Task Panel.

Besides immediate visibility within the panel, retouchers can select 'Open' to load the full file into Photoshop as a new tab and switch between it and their working files.

Art Directors within a post QC Task will have the color reference displayed in the side panel. Additionally, reviewers can find the color reference available along with reference images by activating the icon in the toolbox panel.

Drag and scale the image with opacity applied to make direct comparisons.

Color Reference files are sent to your External Post-Production vendor as a supporting file when available.