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Question - How Do You Prepare Images for Viewing on Uncalibrated Monitors/Screens
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Jan 5, 2019 17:13:39   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
SusanFromVermont wrote:
For many, it is too much trouble to research this and find out there are monitors that are calibrated when they arrive, although they do need to be adjusted for photography, and then as they get older, calibrated more frequently. Even better, the prices of these have begun to drop! Much more affordable now.


Only with a calibration kit can you be sure your screen is honestly good for photo editing.

Monitors drift the most at the very beginning of their useful lives, and at the very end.

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Jan 5, 2019 17:36:26   #
sirlensalot Loc: Arizona
 
Thanks burkphoto for your last post. Probably explains why the 2nd batch of same photos I just got back from Costco are way to dark. Going to take them back to see if they can do anything with them. They are important to a family member so I need to do try to fix. Edited in LR6. First batch was dark with a green tint. My bad. Recalibrated gamma with free program and went over images again in LR. Looked way better on my monitor. Second batch lost the green but look even darker. Costco states not to check box for color and brightness correction if you have edited the images. Now starting to wonder if I should, find another printer, or go back to printing which is more expensive. Maybe a new monitor? I am at a loss.

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Jan 5, 2019 17:42:42   #
Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador
 
Obtain a MacBeth certified color chart. Take a picture of it in 5500 degree K light. the color chart comes with a grid that tells the RGB numerical values for each square. Load the picture you took into Photoshop and put your cursor on each grid and it will tell you the numerical values. Compare these to the chart that came with the color chart. That will tell you if the monitor or camera chip are off and by how much.

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Jan 5, 2019 18:01:53   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
sirlensalot wrote:
Thanks burkphoto for your last post. Probably explains why the 2nd batch of same photos I just got back from Costco are way to dark. Going to take them back to see if they can do anything with them. They are important to a family member so I need to do try to fix. Edited in LR6. First batch was dark with a green tint. My bad. Recalibrated gamma with free program and went over images again in LR. Looked way better on my monitor. Second batch lost the green but look even darker. Costco states not to check box for color and brightness correction if you have edited the images. Now starting to wonder if I should, find another printer, or go back to printing which is more expensive. Maybe a new monitor? I am at a loss.
Thanks burkphoto for your last post. Probably expl... (show quote)


90% chance it’s monitor calibration. Software calibration is snake oil. Get a kit from DataColor or X-Rite. They’re dirt simple to use, if you can read.

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Jan 5, 2019 18:09:43   #
jcboy3
 
yssirk123 wrote:
I'm wondering what adjustments you make (if any) for images posted on the web which will be viewed on monitors that are not calibrated.

I've been converting to sRGB, viewing on an uncalibrated laptop, and making adjustments to more closely match my calibrated desktop monitor.


Make them black and white.

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Jan 5, 2019 18:56:25   #
photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA
 
I calibrate my monitor because I process my photos for printing. I don't worry how the photo will be seen on an uncalibrated monitor (and the vast majority of monitors are uncalibrated) because I have no control over the situation.

One funny thing, a few years ago a photo snob (for lack of a better term) attacked one of my photos on a Facebook group. He told me that it was obvious that I needed to calibrate my monitor; to which I responded that I calibrate it monthly. Other people in the group came to my defense that the photo was beautiful on their screens. We all came to the conclusion that he had to calibrate his monitor. Of course, his monitor was not the problem and we all needed to improve our photography. The really funny thing was that he NEVER share a photo in the group, but he constantly criticized everyone else.

In a nutshell, there is so much important stuff going on, don't sweat how your photo will be viewed on someone else's monitor (calibrated or not)!

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Jan 5, 2019 19:03:40   #
BebuLamar
 
rmalarz wrote:
Bill,
I simply get the images to look the way I want on my monitor. Yes, it's calibrated. How it looks to others is their issue. Most folks looking at photographs are aware of the importance of calibration.
--Bob


I for one who doesn't share my photographs. I don't want to post my photographs in forum (although I did a few here). So it doesn't matter how they look like on other's monitors. But if you want others to see what you want them to see then you do need to consider how your images look on their equipment. If you have a website to sell your stuff you would want most potential buyers to see what you want them to see don't you?

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Jan 5, 2019 21:39:52   #
kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA
 
One time I used my son's computer while visiting and didn't think about calibrating his monitor.
Emailed the photos to my client, not a good deal. They where awful.

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Jan 6, 2019 18:27:17   #
yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I don't see any way around the variables associated with uncalibrated monitors, and it seems that converting to sRGB and letting the chips (or colors) fall where they may is the best that can be done.

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Jan 6, 2019 23:19:17   #
Bipod
 
burkphoto wrote:
So true. Most monitors are simply re-purposed screens that would have gone into TV sets otherwise.

The standard color temperature for TV screens is 9300°K! So if your monitor has a 6500K setting, that is closer. Some prefer 5000K, but that works better for pre-press in an offset litho shop. DataColor suggests 5800K in dim room light.

Out of the box, MOST monitors are waaaaaaaay too bright. That is why prints of images adjusted on them come out too dark. The proper brightness level for photo editing is somewhere between 80 and 120 candelas per square meter. A brightness of 105 cd/m^2 is what many photo labs use, because that matches the brightness level PPA uses to judge prints in competition.

If you illuminate a test print in a light box with 5000K fluorescent light (91 CRI or higher), adjust brightness until a gray card placed over an 8x10 print reads EV 9.75 on a hand-held exposure meter (the iPhone app, myLightMeter, works fine for this). That will closely match a monitor set to 105 cd/m^2.

A lot of folks throw up their hands and say, "No one has a calibrated monitor except for a few nit-picky photographers, so why bother?" The answer is that, while most monitors are not calibrated, the vast majority of them are close enough to normal that calibration does matter. And of course, if your image is going to be printed via any means, it needs to be adjusted ONLY on a calibrated monitor, or what you see on screen will not match the resulting prints.
So true. Most monitors are simply re-purposed scre... (show quote)



If amsteur photographers cared as much about their monitors and their printers as they
do about their cameras, we all be a lot better off. The final image is what counts.

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