1. A method for merit-based gamut mapping, the method comprising: defining a plurality of clusters in a color space wherein each cluster has a plurality of color points, the plurality of clusters comprising at least a first cluster and a second cluster; associating at least one respective gamut mapping function with each cluster, each respective gamut mapping function comprising a respective function that is applied to each point in the cluster with which the respective gamut function is associated to define a respective point within a target gamut that corresponds to at least one color point within the cluster with which the respective gamut function is associated, wherein the first cluster is associated with a first gamut mapping function that comprises a first function that defines a respective point within a target gamut that corresponds to at least one color point within the first cluster, the second cluster is associated with a second gamut mapping function that comprises a second function that defines a respective point within a target gamut that corresponds to at least one color point within the second cluster, and the first gamut mapping function being different than the second gamut mapping function; associating at least one merit function with each cluster, the merit function defining at least one merit function value for the respective gamut mapping function associated with each cluster; optimizing the respective gamut mapping function for each respective cluster based on the determined merit function value; blending, after the optimizing, gamut mapping functions of adjacent clusters; and outputting, after the optimizing, at least one composite gamut mapping function comprising the gamut mapping function for each respective cluster within the plurality of clusters.