The subject application is directed to a system and method for iteratively acquiring optical color measurements for device color profiling. A first color measurement data set, in a first color space, is received of a measured value for each of L discrete printed color patches in an M row by N column planar array, where L, M and N are positive integers greater than 2, and L is less than M×N. A visual rendering on a display of color patches arranged in M rows and N columns is generated from second color space measurement data. Profile data is generated of the transition between color data and color measurement data based upon the relationship between available printed patches and displayed patches. When L is less than M×N, a visual indicator is generated for the displayed row of the current L value. A second color measurement data set is received uniquely defined from the first set, which second set includes patches not found in the first set. Profile data is then generated based upon the second data set.