colormgr

colormgr [-h|--help] [-V|--version] [-v|--verbose...] [-i|--icc] COMMAND [ARG...]

-h, --help
    Show help information and exit

-V, --version
    Print version and exit

-v, --verbose
    Increase verbosity level (repeatable)

-i, --icc
    Output ICC profile data in readable form

colormgr is the command-line interface to the colord daemon, enabling management of color devices and ICC profiles on Linux systems. Colord acts as a D-Bus-activated service providing a centralized database for color profiles, ensuring consistent color across applications, displays, printers, scanners, and cameras.

Key functionalities include listing devices with get-devices, installing profiles via profile-add or profile-install, adding/removing devices, repairing profiles, generating sensor readings, and creating calibration files. Devices are uniquely identified by IDs (often hardware serials), and kinds include display, printer, scanner, camera, and webcam.

Ideal for scripting, headless servers, or precise control without a GUI. It integrates with desktop environments like GNOME for system-wide color accuracy. For example:
colormgr get-devices lists devices;
colormgr profile-add monitor.icc installs a profile.

Requires colord running; uses polkit for privileged ops. Outputs human-readable or ICC-formatted data.

Requires colord D-Bus service running. Privileged operations (e.g., profile install) need polkit authorization. Not all devices auto-detected without sensors.

get-devices [KIND] - List devices by kind (e.g., display)
local - Get local display device
profile-add FILENAME - Add profile to database
profile-install FILENAME - Install and auto-match profile
device-add ID KIND - Register new device

display, printer, scanner, camera, webcam

Developed by Richard Hughes as part of the colord project around 2010, replacing ad-hoc color management with standardized D-Bus service for GNOME and Linux desktops.

colord(8), gnome-color-manager(1)