To contribute to the important task of characterizing the complex multidimensional structure of natural images, a fractal
characterization is proposed for the colorimetric organization of natural color images. This is realized from their three-dimensional
RGB color histogram, by applying a box-counting procedure to assess the dimensionality of its support. Regular scaling emerges,
almost linear over the whole range of accessible scales, and with non-integer slope in log-log allowing the definition of
a capacity dimension for the histogram. This manifests a fractal colorimetric organization with a self-similar structure of
the color palette typically composing natural images. Such a fractal characterization complements other previously known fractal
properties of natural images, some reported recently in their colorimetric organization, and others reported more classically
in their spatial organization. Such fractal multiscale features uncovered in natural images provide helpful clues relevant
to image modeling, processing and visual perception.
Keywords Color images - Three-dimensional histogram - Scaling - Fractal dimension - Multicomponent images