When drawing digitally, have you ever thought that your drawing looked completely different when printed, or when you saw it on someone else’s screen?

 

The perception of color varies depending on the devices and application, whether on monitors, printers, or smartphones. A Color profile is used to minimize the differences as much as possible and adjust the colors to be close in any environment.

 

From the December 2025 update (Ver 4.2), you can specify a color profile when creating a new canvas. This prevents unintentional changes in RGB color tones and CMYK display when working across multiple devices.

 

Note: In Simple Mode (PRO/EX) of the tablet/smartphone version, the setting "sRGB IEC61966-2.1" (suitable for web and social media posts) is the default when creating a canvas.

 

What are color profiles?

A color profile is data that serves as a sort of color instruction manual.

By embedding a color profile in the image, other apps and devices can recognize specific colors in the image and display them as closely as possible to the original.

 

It may not be exactly the same color, but it is an important mechanism to minimize discrepancies.

 

Why colors change

The colors on the screen are created by combining of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light.

For example, R:255, G:0, B:0 signifies the most red color. However, since the color gamut that each monitor can express differs from model to model, the actual display of R:255, G:0, B:0 will vary accordingly.

 

When printing, colors are expressed by mixing the inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K)."

The final result will also vary depending on the type of paper, ink, and printer used.

 

How to set up color profiles

Specify the color profile when creating a new project (Ver. 4.2 and later)

You can set up a color profile when creating a new canvas, in the New dialog > Color profile.

 

You can specify two types of profiles in Color Profile.

 

Working profile　(Previously Profile for preview):

The color profile to be embedded in the canvas preview display or when exporting to a generic image format.

 

Embedded profile:

The RGB color profile to be embedded in the canvas.

 

When a CMYK profile is set under Working profile, any RGB profile can be specified in the Embedded profile. If you specify an RGB profile under Working profile, the profile will be the same profile.

 

Please use the following as a reference for the profile set up.

 

- For artwork posted online or on social media

The environment (display) profile used for the RGB profile in the Working profile is set by default and can be used as is. Tablets and smartphones are set to "sRGB IEC61966-2.1" by default.

 

If you are concerned about color differences when you publish your computer-drawn work online as compared to when viewed on a tablet or smartphone, you can suppress color changes by setting the Working profile to "sRGB IEC61966-2.1".

 

- For artwork to be printed on paper or booklets

Set the Working Profile to the CMYK profile specified by your print shop's submission guide.

The default display profile set in the Embedded profile can be used as is.

 

Note: "Coated GRACoL 2006 (ISO 12647-2:2004)" is commonly used in North America, and "Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647-2:2004)" in Europe and other regions. In Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, "Japan Color 2001 Coated" is commonly used. If your print shop hasn't specified settings, feel free to use any of these.

 

See here for more details on the settings of CMYK data.

 

Once the color profile is set, it is recorded and the same settings will be displayed when creating the next project.

The initial settings for the color profile, Rendering intent and Library can be configured in the File menu (or Clip Studio Paint logo menu for non-Windows users) > Preferences > Color conversion. (These are settings intended for advanced users, so it is generally acceptable to leave them at their default configuration.)

 

Set or change the color profile later

If you wish to set the color profile later or modify the settings you have configured, you can do so through the following steps.

 

• For single canvas projects: Edit Menu > Canvas Properties

• For multiple-page projects (EX): Story menu > Change page settings / Change project settings

 

Note: If you wish to delete the color profile information, uncheck the Color profile option.

 

Preview the color profile

When setting the color profile in the New dialog box, the preview display will automatically be turned on.

When a clip file with an embedded color profile or an image file with an embedded RGB profile is opened, the preview display is activated by default to check for correct colors.

 

You can turn the preview display on or off using the View menu > Color profile > Preview.

 

Additionally, you can check the color profile set in the Preview Settings.

See here for more details on settings related to CMYK data.

 

Exporting images with embedded color profiles

From the File menu, choose Export (Single Layer) > .jpg (JPEG), .tif (TIFF), .psb (Photoshop Big Document), .psd (Photoshop Document), or .png (PNG).

 

Please ensure that the checkbox for Embed ICC profile is selected in the Export Settings dialog.

When exporting in CMYK, please change the Expression color to CMYK Color.

 

Note: When exporting a project with a set color profile, if the checkbox for Embed ICC profile is turned off, a warning message will appear.