For colors that do not correspond exactly to a node color, Profile Editor infers colors by assuming that the transitions from one node color to another are smooth and continuous. Thus a relatively small number of nodes can represent the entire color space (a very large number of colors).

Profile Editor represents the Node Index as Axis 1, Axis 2, and Axis 3. These axes correspond to either L, a, and b or X, Y, and Z depending on the model used by the Profile Connection Space (PCS) of the profile being edited.

Typing a value in the Neutral field locates that node on the neutral axis and adjusts the values of Axis 1, Axis 2, and Axis 3 to match. You can increase or decrease the Neutral value to view the nodes associated with different gray levels.

For any given node index, the coordinates of the source and output colors associated with the node index are displayed.

A node edit has the smallest effect of any type of edit and changes only one node in the profile. (The node edit alters only the relationship of the color at one node to the colors around it and affects color transitions in the node’s neighborhood.) By comparison, a selective color edit affects at least eight nodes.

One example of using a node edit is to adjust the neutral colors (a=b=0) of a profile. These adjustments are usually very small.