Monitor Calibrator

[josho]

Your eyes will slowly adjust to the yellowish tint. If you stick to native white, your monitor will NOT be color accurate.

Regardless.... It is totally up to you. After all, you don't need a color accurate monitor to play games.

Thats the thing as Im wondering how the rest can adjust to the yellowish white. Because when I take a white paper and put near my screen and match, weird.

Alamak, I don't calibrate just because of my gaming. I dont game so much, more on photo processing. :angel:

 

[YogiBear]

There's one more factor you've all missed: your lighting.

Lighting changes throughout the day and it stays somewhat the same at night.
If your lighting color temperature isnt right, your images will appear not right too, especially when you compare pictures. To make it right you have to invest in lighting surrounding the area where you are doing your imaging. One cheap suggestion is to get dual tube lighting: one warmwhite & one coolwhite, so that the resulting color temperature is the average of the two. If you work during the day, block out daylight entering your windows and let the lighting in your room do the magic.

A suggestion by GamutLabs (do a search for his posts) is to use 5500K as the color temperature standard. Our photographic flash is rated between 5500~5600K and so we should be using this as standard instead. Like what photobum says, your eyes will adjust to the yellowish cast.

 

[theRBK]

actually, for my "serious DI" work, I prefer to work in 6500K...when I show work to clients on screen, or even if I email them drafts, I find 6500K easier for their eyes cause they are used to it (it is daylight temperature )...

and if you use LCD screens, their native temperature is at roughly 6500K...and they can't really adjust the colour temperature unlike CRTs...so for LCDs, its advisible to use 6500K

 

[josho]

Interesting. Thanks to all guideline! Sound like a working music studio as well... alot to take note of.

I will try for 6500K to let my eye get use to it.

 

[photobum]

Back I photography school, I was taught to make color and exposure judgements by looking at my slides, negatives and prints through a 5,000K color calibrated light boxes or a viewing booth.

Photoshop and color guru, Dan Margulis, wrote in his book 'Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction' that for color critical work, it is vital to calibrate one's monitor to color temperature of the light source. In the book, Dan recommended the color temperature of 5,000K. Now, can I argue with this man who have more than 30 years of experience in the color pre-pess industry?

Color temperature of most studio strobes are roughly between 5,000k to 6,000K. Camera flashes (such as the Nikon speedlights) has a color temperature of around 5,700K. Common sense will tell us that when we view our images (taken with flash) outside this range, it is impossible for us to judge the color accuracy.

 

[photobum]

Because when I take a white paper and put near my screen and match, weird.

Don't you know that different paper has different shades of white? If you have ever done darkroom printing, you will understand what I meant by this.

 

[Tachi]

I have asked GretagMacbeth AG about this issue sometime back and see below for their reply:

We speak here about calibration, the step before profiling to setup the monitor (white point) to an white in order to simulate different white of paper (as well e.g. containing optical brightener) so if reducing the "whiteness of the monitor you will not be able to see these paper whites correctly.
That's why even by ISO Standard (3664) this has been defined. this is the "total ink limit" if comparing to
the total ink limit of a printer at calibration e.g. black of total CMYK 0f 350%.

So, I hope their comment can clarify this doubt. As we are calibrating the LCD white point and not as what you think that the LCD should be having 5500K (day light).

 

[photobum]

So, I hope their comment can clarify this doubt. As we are calibrating the LCD white point and not as what you think that the LCD should be having 5500K (day light).

Now I have a question for you. If you are in doubt, maybe you can direct this question to Gretag Macbeth on my behalf.

My question is:

If our monitor's white point is not calibrated to the average color temperature of our light sources, then if we try to view a color, say red for example; am I right to say that it will not be close to the actual reds of the subject? As you may have already know, red is the most difficult color to match.

Now, let's say if we are trying simulate the paper whites. As a photographer, I have absolutely no control over the type of paper my clients will print my images on. The ad agencies outsource their printing jobs to different printers. It is not possible to obtain color profiles from all these printers. Therefore, is it fair to assume that the best a photographer could do is to try to match the light source during the actual shoot of a subject or product?

For your information, I don't do printing in my studio. If I need sample proofs to show my clients, I will go to my local lab. My main concern is my workflow from shooting the subject/product to the actual look on the pages of a magazine or annual report. Sometimes, my clients will comment that the colors on the magazine do not match those they saw on the proofs.

 

[lsisaxon]

Now I have a question for you. If you are in doubt, maybe you can direct this question to Gretag Macbeth on my behalf.

My question is:

If our monitor's white point is not calibrated to the average color temperature of our light sources, then if we try to view a color, say red for example; am I right to say that it will not be close to the actual reds of the subject? As you may have already know, red is the most difficult color to match.

Now, let's say if we are trying simulate the paper whites. As a photographer, I have absolutely no control over the type of paper my clients will print my images on. Therefore, is it fair to assume that the best a photographer could do is to try to match the light source during the actual shoot of a subject or product. The ad agency outsource their printing jobs to various offset printers. It is not possible to obtain color profiles from all these printers.

For your information, I don't do printing in my studio. If I need sample proofs to show my clients, I will go to my local lab. My main concern is my workflow from shooting the subject/product to the actual look on the pages of a magazine or annual report. Sometimes, my clients will comment that the colors on the magazine do not match those they saw on the proofs.

Then the client should get the printer to match their prints to your proof.

 

[theRBK]

Then the client should get the printer to match their prints to your proof.

Agreed.

Photoshop and color guru, Dan Margulis, wrote in his book 'Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction' that for color critical work, it is vital to calibrate one's monitor to color temperature of the light source. In the book, Dan recommended the color temperature of 5,000K. Now, can I argue with this man who have more than 30 years of experience in the color pre-pess industry?

Color temperature of most studio strobes are roughly between 5,000k to 6,000K. Camera flashes (such as the Nikon speedlights) has a color temperature of around 5,700K. Common sense will tell us that when we view our images (taken with flash) outside this range, it is impossible for us to judge the color accuracy.

As I have mentioned, LCDs cannot really change colour temperature unlike CRTs. They merely try to simulate a change in temperature. With the profusion of LCDs, many direct clients and ad agencies are using it nowadays and set at 6500K. So, to see what ultimately clients will see on their screens, working in 6500K is helpful.

Besides, there is no accurate colour, only what people think of as the accurate colour...giving an example, I had previously received an image of a still life shot to work on, along with the actual object that was shot...the colour of the object in real life and in the image were very close...but the visual I received from the agency was very much different...so i had to change the "accurate" colour as shot and which was produced in the images I received, and convert it to the colour that I saw on the visual I received (by the way, the ultimate usage was supposed to show the product in daylight so it is not due to design of the usage)...I mean, if the client wants it a certain colour, even if it is not the "real" colour, have to match it right?

 

[jeanie]

read through all 4 pages.

now, big question for a newbie me.

will the eye one 2 suffice my DI needs?
even though i see 'good' colors of skin on my screen with this thingy, does that mean my prints when i send to printer will be as 'good'?
enlighten me please.

 

[agape01]

read through all 4 pages.

now, big question for a newbie me.

will the eye one 2 suffice my DI needs?
even though i see 'good' colors of skin on my screen with this thingy, does that mean my prints when i send to printer will be as 'good'?
enlighten me please.

No... what you need is Xrite made by Monaco.

You ought to be looking at a monitor and printer caliberator.

 

[lsisaxon]

read through all 4 pages.

now, big question for a newbie me.

will the eye one 2 suffice my DI needs?
even though i see 'good' colors of skin on my screen with this thingy, does that mean my prints when i send to printer will be as 'good'?
enlighten me please.

If after calibration, it's good on your screen, you solved your problem. If the printer doesn't give you the correct colour, then it's their problem, if they don't think so, change a printer. ;p

 

[theRBK]

No... what you need is Xrite made by Monaco.

You ought to be looking at a monitor and printer caliberator.

er...actually it is Monarco Optix made by Xrite...and in any case, it is no longer in production cause Xrite bought over Gretag Macbeth and decided to use their EyeOne system...

as for sending to a printer, you would either need the printer's colour profile, or just tell them not to adjust the images at all and hope for the best...or you can profile your desktop printer and print a colour proof and ask them to match it...in addition to the EyeOne thingy you would need the software to do the printer side of things...Xrite currently has this bundle called EZcolor with Eye-One Display 2 Bundle that packs everything in.

 

[agape01]

Xrite currently has this bundle called EZcolor with Eye-One Display 2 Bundle that packs everything in.

That is what I am referring to.

 

[jeanie]

er...actually it is Monarco Optix made by Xrite...and in any case, it is no longer in production cause Xrite bought over Gretag Macbeth and decided to use their EyeOne system...

as for sending to a printer, you would either need the printer's colour profile, or just tell them not to adjust the images at all and hope for the best...or you can profile your desktop printer and print a colour proof and ask them to match it...in addition to the EyeOne thingy you would need the software to do the printer side of things...Xrite currently has this bundle called EZcolor with Eye-One Display 2 Bundle that packs everything in.

please please please can be more detail for me please?:embrass: :dunno:

who is the agent for GM in sgp?

 

[theRBK]

Basically you would be asking the photo printer shop to match a colour proof that you provide: you provide one image to that shop, and you ask the people there to match their print of that image to the colour of the proof that you provided, and print all subsequent images to the same settings as that first one.

Of course, to provide a colour proof, you would have to make sure that the colour of the image that you print from your desktop printer matches that of the screen. To ensure that, you would have to make a profile of your printer, just like you profile your monitor to make sure the colours are right. To profile your printer, you would need additional software to add this capability to the Eye One thingy. EZcolor with Eye-One Display 2 Bundle provides both the EyeOne thingy and the software (EZcolour) for printer profiling in one set (follow the link for more info on the bundle).

their local agent should be:

X-Rite Asia Pacific PTE Ltd.
Sales
Unit #02 - 04, 14 Science Park Drive
Singapore, 118226 Singapore
Phone: +65 6778 8773
Fax: +65 6778 8645

or you can ask the usual suspects of camera retail shops (like Cathay) to buy...or call

Bits & Bytes Marketing Pte Ltd
21 Kallang Ave #02-175/177
Tel : 6294 2292

a company that specialises in colour management solutions.

 

[jeanie]

sounds 'troublesome':embrass:

i dont have a color printer at home other than canon selphy ES1 which i just bought and i regret like S***.doh

 

[lsisaxon]

sounds 'troublesome':embrass:

i dont have a color printer at home other than canon selphy ES1 which i just bought and i regret like S***.doh

Is it really that bad? I find the CP720 quite ok. Just have to set saturration -1 and brightness +1 in the printing preference. It's not the most accurate and can never beat a lab print but I think it's good enough for certain applications. I don't know how the ES1 would fare.

 

[josho]

sounds 'troublesome':embrass:

i dont have a color printer at home other than canon selphy ES1 which i just bought and i regret like S***.doh

For ur need, monitor calibrator is more then enuff. unless you want to print by urself. The bundle isn't cheap thou.