Louboutin Red

[Tim Lookingbill]

Pantone Color Manager cxf3 files show 18-1663 TCX (Cotton) as L*a*b* 42.5, 65.45, 37.19
and 18-1663 TPX (Paper) as L*a*b* 43.56, 63.54, 30.76

Then that tells me the Amazon Cotton fabric swatch I took readings from using my Mac's DigitalColor Meter (CIELab setting) wasn't too far off.

[Malina DZ]

Tim, Rainer SLP, kirkt, GWGill, thank you all for the valuable input!
This color on a glossy surface is a pita to output correctly preserving the detail in shadows and highlights even knowing the target color primary value. Suggestions to revise the illumination for a more evenly spread light over the subject I consider as giving up a creative intent over technical limitations of the tools at hand. This was a simple setup to test CCD vs CMOS red color rendering at which they both failed, including myself for not being able to manipulate the RAW files. I'd rather add more reflections to the glossy surface to emphasize the subject's contours if I knew the sensor could handle the color gamut without faking it at capture.

If I'm close as you say then it's doable on your end using a wider gamut display.
I see from your attempt that you've over cranked the contrast which will distort hue/saturation.

Well spotted Tim, I did crank up the saturation and contrast up to the clipping limits in ProPhotoRGB Development mode. Conversion to sRGB skewed the color even farther way of course. 

Pantone Color Manager cxf3 files show 18-1663 TCX (Cotton) as L*a*b* 42.5, 65.45, 37.19
and 18-1663 TPX (Paper) as L*a*b* 43.56, 63.54, 30.76

GWGill, thanks for the color patch values. They are really close for a mat surface. If you try to follow the steps suggested by kirkt, you'll notice that the source color doesn't  vary much after the conversion to sRGB, unlike the color in my RAW files when soft proofing for sRGB before making any adjustments.
Even when I get close to the target color in ProPhotoRGB, conversion to adobeRGB skews the color and clips shadow/highlight detail. 

[Tim Lookingbill]

Your purpose behind what you're attempting doesn't have a well defined goal or it's become obscured by all the technicalities discussed.

If the output of these red shoes is strictly for display purposes and not for print, then it's not going to make one bit of difference being this precise on how this red appears since color appearance can't be controlled on this level for web display due to all the uncalibrated displays especially over saturated Samsung Galaxy AMOLED smart phones.

There are perception tricks done either in front or behind the camera in post that can make this red appear out of this world. One suggestion is to place the shoes in a somewhat natural looking setup with a darker looking surrounding background instead of the bright white canvas painting you've setup.

Maybe have a canvas with a mid grayish complimentary color (green) and/or a muted, darker pastel tertiary color (light yellowish green) that will perceptually enhance the vibrancy of the red.