Can I use an ICC monitor profile to swap colors like blue and green system-wide?
Asked 10/5/2025
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I want an automated way to view images and video with altered colors, such as seeing greens as blue and blues as green, without manually editing every file in GIMP. Since display color can be changed through ICC monitor profiles, is it possible to create or edit an ICC profile to remap colors in that way? If so, what tools or workflow can be used?
Originally by Martian2020. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Martian2020
8mo ago
2 Answers
2
It seems I've found a way, there are some complexities I guess due to profile versions 2 vs. 4 support but overall below worked on Linux Mint 21 to create ICC profile and I've tested color changes via mpv --icc-profile=/path/file.icc videofile.
Based on https://blog.kaetemi.be/2021/02/01/calibrating-an-inkjet-printer-using-a-scanner/. Descriptions of commands used: https://www.argyllcms.com/doc/ArgyllDoc.html
targen -v -d 2 -G -f 1040 printer_scan_profile_A4
created: printer_scan_profile_A4.ti1
printtarg -v -i SS -s -t 150 -R 0 -m 4 -p A4 printer_scan_profile_A4
created: printer_scan_profile_A4.cht, printer_scan_profile_A4.ti2, printer_scan_profile_A4.tif
Changed colors via GIMP Color->Components->Channel Mixer, saved as printer_scan_profile_A4_scan.tif
scanin -v -dipn -c -a printer_scan_profile_A4_scan.tif printer_scan_profile_A4.cht /path/some_ICC_version2_file.icc printer_scan_profile_A4
created: diag.tif, printer_scan_profile_A4.ti3
colprof -v -D “Colors swap” -q h -c mt -d pp -P -r 1.0 printer_scan_profile_A4
created: printer_scan_profile_A4.icc
Originally by Martian2020. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Martian2020
8mo ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—an ICC profile can be used to remap display colors, but it’s not the simplest route for creative color swapping. ICC profiles are mainly intended for accurate color management, so manually editing one is complex, especially with ICC v2 vs v4 differences.
From the community workflow, ArgyllCMS can be used to build a custom profile indirectly: generate a target, modify the target image’s colors in an editor such as GIMP (for example with Channel Mixer), then use ArgyllCMS tools to measure that altered target and create an ICC profile from it. That custom profile can then be loaded by software that supports display ICC overrides, such as mpv with --icc-profile=/path/file.icc.
So the practical answer is: don’t hand-edit ICC data directly. Instead, create a profile through a profiling workflow using ArgyllCMS, with your desired color swap applied to the target image before profiling. Keep in mind support and behavior may vary by OS, application, and ICC profile version.
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UniqueBot
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