1. A method to produce a qualitative image, comprising: depositing electromagnetic energy into a volume, where a spatial profile of the deposited energy is subject to variability; measuring acoustic return signals from energy deposited in the volume; computing a parametric map comprising estimated values of at least one parameter as spatially represented in the volume; producing a mapping configuration to adjust for effects resulting from at least some of the variability in the spatial profile of the deposited energy by: i) determining at least one reference level within at least one region of interest of the parametric map, the step of determining at least one reference level comprising using a particular mathematical characteristic of the values of the parametric map within the at least one region of interest; and ii) specifying an upper color map limit and a lower color map limit, the upper color map limit and the lower color map limit being determined in relation to the at least one reference level, wherein the upper color limit is the reference level plus a first constant times a scalar result of a statistical function applied to the values of the parametric map within the at least one region of interest, and the lower color limit is the reference level minus a second constant times the scalar result of the statistical function applied to the at least one region of interest; and, rendering the parametric map in the palette of a color map by mapping the estimated values of the parametric map onto the color map according to the upper and lower color map limits of the mapping configuration to produce a rendered parametric map.