A calibration profile describes how a particular camera renders the world, so its optical errors can be computed out of every photo it takes.
Every lens bends straight lines a little, and every camera sits its sensor a fraction off centre. Those deviations are constant for one device and can be measured once. The profile holds those values and lets software reverse them later.
You photograph a printed checkerboard from several angles. From the corners, whose real spacing is known, the optical properties are derived. The result stays valid as long as you use the same camera, so it is a one-off step, not something you repeat per pattern.
Modern phones report their own optical data, and PatternScan Pro Mobile reads it directly. A profile is needed for uploads from the desktop, and on phones that do not supply reliable data, which mainly means single-camera iPhones and some Android devices.
The profile belongs to the camera, not to the pattern. Once it exists it applies to every photo from that device, and you never think about it again.

Digitize sewing patterns without tracing.
Test PatternScan Pro free for 14 days with the full feature set. You need your smartphone, a printer and one pattern you always wanted digital.