File formats that Argyll uses
    
    Argyll uses a number of file formats for its operation, some that
    are external standards, and some that are unique to Argyll.
    
    .ti1
    .ti2
    .ti3
    .cal
    .cht 
    .gam 
    .sp
    .cmf
    CGATS
    ICC
    MPP
    TIFF
    VRML
    X3D
    X3DOM
    
    .ti1
    Target Information 1 data. This is an ASCII text, CGATS,
    Argyll specific format, used to hold device value ready for creating
    a profiling test chart, as well as the estimated CIE color values
    for each value, used in laying out the test chart and reading
    validation purposes. Additional information on possible spacer and
    marking values that may be needed in creating a rendered test chart
    is also included. This file is typically created using the  targen tool.
    
    .ti2
    Target Information 2 data. This is an ASCII text, CGATS,
    Argyll specific format, used to hold device value that have been
    laid out in a test chart, together with each test patches location,
    and estimated CIE color values for each value used for reading
    validation purposes. This file is typically created using the printtarg or 
      filmtarg tools.
    
    .ti3
    Target Information 3 data. This is an ASCII text, CGATS,
    Argyll specific format, used to hold device value and CIE/Spectral
    value pairs, the raw information needed to create device profiles.
    This file is typically created using the chartread,  dispread, filmread,
     scanin, 
      fakeread or one of the conversion tools such as cb2ti3, kodak2ti3,
    txt2ti3. See  TI3 file format for more detail.
    .cal
    Device calibration information. This is ASCII text, CGATS, Argyll specific format,
    used to hold a description of device setup information that brings
    it to a desired calibration state. Created by dispcal, printcal,
    synthcal. See  CAL file format for more detail.
    .cht
    Test chart recognition file. This is ASCII text Argyll specific
    format, used to hold a description of a test chart, so that a raster
    image of the chart can be turned into device test values by the  scanin tool. .cht files are created manually (usually in
    combination with  scanin creating a
    boilerplate file containing the recognition parameters, but not the
    patch location information), or by the 
      printtarg tool, when creating a test print chart that will be
    scanned in, rather than read by an instrument. See  CHT file format for more detail.
    .gam
    Gamut surface description. This is an ASCII text, CGATS, Argyll specific format,
    used to hold a 3 Dimensional surface description of a color gamut.
    Typical this is created using the iccgamut,
    tiffgamut, or mpplu
    tools. The resulting file is typically viewed using the viewgam tool to convert one or more gamuts
    into a VRML file, or as input to collink, to describe a source colorspace
    gamut.
    .sp
    Spectral illuminant description. This is an ASCII text, CGATS, Argyll specific format,
    used to hold one or more spectral descriptions of an illuminant or
    color. Typically it is used to record a custom illuminant, for use
    in computing Fluorescent Whitening Agent compensation for
    reflective samples, as well as computing CIE tristimulus values from
    spectral samples.
    .cmf
    Color Matching Functions. This is an ASCII text, CGATS,
    Argyll specific format, used to hold three spectral response curves
    that define a tristimulus observer. The format is the same as a .sp
    file.
    .ccmx
    Colorimeter Correction Matrix. This is an ASCII text, CGATS, Argyll specific format,
    used to hold a 3x3 correction matrix. The matrix is for a specific
    display and Colorimeter, and is used to transform the instruments
    XYZ values to make them better match a reference spectrometers
    measurements for that display. The file contains a description of
    the display, Colorimeter and reference Spectrometer. See ccxxmake for more information.
    .ccss
    Colorimeter Calibration Spectral Set. This is an ASCII text, CGATS, Argyll specific format,
    used to hold a set of display spectral samples. For Colorimeters
    that have known sensor spectral sensitivity information (such as the
    i1d3 and Spyder4 & Spyder5), this allows a calibration to be created that is
    tuned for a particular display. The file contains a description of
    the display, the display technology type, the type of spectrometer
    used for taking the readings. See oeminst
    and ccxxmake for more information. The
    format is similar to a .sp file.
    CGATS
    CGATS.5 Data Exchange Format, from the Annex J, of the ANSI
    CGATS.5-1993 standard.
    This is a general purpose ASCII file format suitable for
    representing color data, and widely used to store color test values.
    Argyll uses this as a base, human readable format, for a variety of
    purposes.
    ICC
    ICC files are files that conform to the International Color
    Consortium, File Format for Color profiles. The ICC Profile Format
    attempts to provide a cross platform device profile format, that can
    be used to translate color data created on one device into another
    device's native color space. For a fuller explanation of what the
    ICC Profile Format is all about, please refer to http://www.color.org, and the
    profile specification. Argyll currently supports profiles that meet
    the V3.4 specification. These files are commonly named with a .icm
    extension on the Windows platform, .pr or .icc on
    the Macintosh and other platforms. As well as device profiles, the
    ICC format can also store device link profiles, abstract profiles
    and named color profiles. This file is typically created using the colprof or 
      collink tools. A device link profile is also a way of
    specifying a custom ink separation from (say) CMYK to the 6 or more
    colorants used by inkjet printers.
    MPP
    Model based device profile format. This is an ASCII text, CGATS, Argyll specific format,
    used to hold the parameters to a general model based device profile.
    This is a less precise and general format than and ICC profile, but
    is a compact way of representing a devices response when it has a
    large number of color channels, or when very few measured data
    points are available for its construction. This file is typically
    created using the mppprof tool.
    TIFF
    Tag Image File Format (TIFF), a widely used format within the
    graphic arts industries for storing image data. It handles various
    forms of compression, and various colorspaces, including RGB, CMYK
    and multi-channel files. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF/.
    Argyll makes use of this as a default raster format.
    JPEG
    Joint Photographic Experts Group, (JPEG), a widely used format
    within the graphic arts and photographic industries for storing
    image data. It handles various forms of compression, and various
    colorspaces, including RGB and CMYK. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG/.
    Argyll makes use of this as an alternate raster format for some
    tools.
    VRML
    Virtual Reality Modeling Language file. This is a portable way of
    encoding 3 Dimensional objects (such as gamut surfaces). Typically
    these can be viewed with a suitable standalone VRML viewer, or a
    plug in for a web browser. VRML97 is International Standard ISO/IEC
    14772-1:1997. See http://www.vrml.org/
    for more information. See 3D Viewing Format
    for switching to VRML output format.
    
    X3D
    X3D is a royalty-free ISO standard XML-based file format for
    representing 3D computer graphics. It is successor to the Virtual
    Reality Modeling Language (VRML).  See http://www.web3d.org/ for more
    information. See 3D Viewing Format for
    switching X3D output format.
    
    X3DOM
    X3DOM is an open-source framework and runtime for 3D graphics on the
    Web. It can be freely used for non-commercial and commercial
    purposes, and is dual-licensed under MIT and GPL license. The
    javascript runtime displays embeded X3D files in browsers that
    support WebGL.
    See http://www.x3dom.org/ for
    more information about this format.
    To check if your browser supports X3DOM, try this test page.
    For more information about ArgyllCMS use of it, see 3D Viewing Format.