Although there are many benefits to going with our full Color Correction service, some professional photographers prefer to handle their own color adjustments. This requires a different workflow including monitor calibration for best results.
Monitor Calibration
Monitor Calibration is the process of balancing your monitor's brightness, contrast, and color balance to be consistent and accurate. The goal is to have images viewed on your monitor match, as closely as possible, to the final printed product.
Follow these steps to achieve and improve your screen-to-print match:
Order Evaluation Prints
Evaluation Prints are complimentary (free) 8"x10" photographic prints that can be ordered through Bay ROES for the purpose of evaluating your monitor's settings. Choose a variety of images with different lighting situations, color, and subject matter. We also recommend you include a B&W image. You will be comparing these prints to your monitor to ensure that you have a good screen-to-print match. In Bay ROES, navigate to "Evaluation Prints" at the bottom of the catalog dropdown.
Set Up Your Workspace
The lighting in the area where you will be viewing your prints is just as important as a well calibrated monitor. Your print viewing area should ideally be set up in a location that is free of natural lighting. Natural light changes in brightness and color temperature throughout the day, therefore a print that matches your screen in the morning may not match in the afternoon.
Take note of the color temperature of your lights as we will be using this when calibrating your monitor. The color temperature of light bulbs are rated in degrees Kelvin. For example, a daylight balanced bulb may be rated as "5000K", or five-thousand degrees Kelvin. Your monitor calibration software will prompt you to enter a color temperature in the White Balance setting. Using the color temperature of your light bulbs is a good starting point.
Calibrate Your Monitor
The most important step towards achieving color consistency between your screen and final prints is calibrating your monitor.
A common misconception is that running the monitor calibration software once with the default settings will give you the optimal results. Achieving an accurate screen-to-print match is a trial and error process that may require you to run the calibration process multiple times before the correct settings that work for you are determined.
Often the most prominent issue seen in uncalibrated screens is the brightness being set too high under default factory settings, meaning that the final print output appears significantly darker in comparison. One of the primary goals of a monitor calibration is to set a more appropriate screen brightness.
Monitor calibration programs use three primary settings to achieve the correct display.
- Luminance: Luminance is the brightness of the screen. The luminance should initially be set to the software's defaults, but it may need to be adjusted by a fair amount to match the ambient brightness of your workspace.
- White Point: White point is the color temperature of the screen which is measured in degrees Kelvin. The white point should initially be set to the color temperature of the light bulbs in your workspace (for example if you are using 4000K light bulbs, set an initial White Point of 4000K).
- Gamma: Gamma is the contrast setting for the screen. Gamma should also start at the software's defaults (usually 2.2 gamma).
After inputting these settings into the calibration software, you should be prompted to execute the calibration process. The calibration utility will either adjust the monitor itself, or direct you to adjust the color, brightness, and contrast using the monitor's manual settings.
Compare and Recalibrate
After calibrating your display, compare your Evaluation Prints to the files displayed on your monitor. If the prints match your monitor, you are now in sync with Bay Photo's print output.
If there is still a discrepancy, the monitor will need to be recalibrated with different settings:
- If the prints appear too dark, then your monitor is too bright. Decrease the Luminance value in the calibration software.
- If the prints appear too light, then your monitor is too dark. Increase the Luminance value in the calibration software.
- If the print appears too warm, then your monitor is too cool. Decrease the Whitepoint value in the calibration software.
- If the print appears too cool, then your monitor is too warm. Increase the Whitepoint value in the calibration software.
- If the print appears too flat, then your monitor is too contrasty. Decrease the Gamma value in the calibration software.
- If the print appears too contrasty, then your monitor is too flat. Increase the Gamma value in the calibration software.
After choosing different values for Luminance, White Point, and/or Gamma, the calibration process should be re-run. Once finished, the Evaluation Prints should again be compared to the on-screen view. If there is still a discrepancy, repeat the adjustment and calibration process until a satisfactory result is obtained.
Once you have achieved an acceptable screen-to-print match, the specific Luminance, Whitepoint, and Gamma settings should be recorded for future reference.
Over time, your monitor will drift, which is why regular calibration to match the test prints is critical for consistency. We recommend recalibrating your monitor at least every two months.
Ready to Calibrate?
Ready to Print?