Making ICC Profile folders visible in Mac OSX 10.7 and above

In OSX 10.7 (Lion), Apple hides the user ICC profile folder of /Users/<username>/Library/ColorSync/Profiles by default (in fact, the entire Library folder is hidden). Storing profiles in this location is still possible, but requires making the folder visible.

To make the per-user ICC profile folder visible permanently, follow the steps below:

1. Launch a terminal:
   • Applications → Utilities → Terminal
2. From the Terminal window, type:
   • chflags nohidden ~/Library
3. If prompted, enter the system administrator password.

Note that some monitor and printer profiling applications bomb on Lion because the Library folder appears not to exist. If you find this to be the case, unhiding the Library using the steps above is necessary.

Profiles can now be copied into the profile library normally. Note that some applications may not see recently installed ICC profiles until the system is restarted.

If temporary access is required to the Library, for example to copy a single profile to it, and you do not want to permanently unhide the folder, use one of the techniques below:

1. Option-Go: Click the Go menu and hold down the Option key. The user's Library shows as a selection in the menu, and clicking it brings you to the correct folder. There is no hot-key combination to open the folder directly, so mousing and clicking is required.
2. Go to Folder: Select Go to Folder under the Finder's Go menu or simply press Shift-Option-G from within the Finder. Type ~/Library as the Go-to location, then click Go. Option #1 is easier.

In most cases, profiles copied to the per-user library become visible to all applications without requiring unhiding the folder tree permanently.