Colour Management and Monitor Calibration

The primary aim of Colour Management and Monitor Calibration is to view and manipulate files on your computer monitor and reproduce those exact same tones in the finished print. Calibrating a monitor adjusts the colour, gamma and luminance to an industry standard.
It is not the intention of these notes to teach all of the intricacies of Colour Management, Theory or Monitor calibration, but to enable any photographer to achieve impressive results from their digital images with the minimum fuss and bother.

A number of steps may be taken to improve image quality as outlined below:

Visual Calibration

Step 1. Situate your computer monitor in room with neutral coloured walls. Reduce the amount of natural daylight, as this will affect the quality of the monitor calibration. Use lighting, which is as close to natural daylight as possible. For example, fluorescent tubes with a rating of 95 or above.

Step 2. If you use Adobe Photoshop, go to the ‘Edit Menu’ and select ‘Color Settings’ and make sure all settings appear as per image below.

Save these settings and give the settings a Title like “Lab setttings”.
Now close Photoshop and reopen to verify these settings. These setting will work perfectly for 99% of most professional photographer’s highest requirements. Images should be edited in a common industry standard working space such as sRGB IEC1966-2.1. Most digital cameras shoot in this colour space and most of the premier digital output devices also use this standard. While it is possible to use other profiles like Adobe 1998, most photographic printers will convert this to sRGB, but for colour accuracy it is recommended to work in this colour space from the beginning.

Step 3. Next download the two calibration images as shown below by clicking on either of them. You will require the prints of theses images to be sent to you from Black & White Photographics before proceeding to the next step. With the digital files opened up in Adobe Photoshop, view the prints we have sent you alongside your computer monitor. Adjust the monitor controls at the bottom of the screen till the images on screen appear the same in contrast , density and colour as the prints. An alternative to this is to use Adobe Gamma or on PC’s go to start/settings/control panel/display/settings/advanced/nview/device settings/color corrections. (The exact path may vary depending on your video card).
These adjustments will yield very acceptable results in many cases. If a higher degree of accuracy is required then see the “Advanced monitor calibration”.

Step 4. After manipulating images in Photoshop it will be necessary to save those images for printing. For images with layers etc, the easiest method is to go to ‘File / Save As…’ and use the settings displayed below.

For prints up to 10 x 15 inches keep the file name to 8 characters without the use of symbols like “$#@!%^&*()-+”. Spaces are acceptable. For prints above this size, you may use any number of characters.
Please remember to tick the ‘Embed Color profile Box’.
Click ‘Save’
The next screen that appears is that shown below.

Quality set at maximum is recommended for minimum loss or image degradation, but may be set much lower if results are acceptable. The only true method of determining this factor is by sending test images for printing. Use Baseline Optimized for best results. Baseline (“Standard”) is primarily used for display on the Internet.
If image quality is an issue, especially for large images with fine detail or text, then ‘Save As’ Tiff format as shown below is the best option.

Click ‘Save’ then apply the following, then click’OK’.

For a complete list of specifications on digital images, please refer to our complete ‘Price List”. For a more in-depth analysis and explanation of these settings refer to the documentation provided with your copy of Adobe Photoshop.

Advanced Monitor Calibration

To get the best degree of accuracy you will have to purchase some proprietary software like “Spyder 3” from Datacolor. This is a This will yield accuracy to around 95%.

Display Calibration for Professional Photographers and Studios

From capturing images to digital editing and printing your work, you can rely on consistent, accurate color throughout your studio and digital workflow with Spyder3Elite™. Designed for the way photographers work, Spyder3Elite is the next generation in calibration accuracy, precision and speed, allowing you to create profiles to your specifications and bring a new level of color control to your work.

Designed for:
Professional Photographers, Photography Studios and Professional users of all kinds.