Originally, the Shirley Card was a photo of a white woman with colour references, light exposure and density, which photographers and designers used to balance photographic printing machines to a standard considered normal, aiming to meet the needs of the dominant target market at the time. In 1990, multiracial Shirley Cards were introduced to coincide with cameras capable of processing light and dark skin tones at the same time. However, these models still had a fair complexion and the updated cards were never widely adopted because they coincided with the emergence of digital photography.