linda lagace

After getting new 4g hd Samsung monitor, pics I ordered from mpix came out super dark and super saturated. I adjusted my file color space to what mpix used Adobe pro but that didn't make much difference. I adjusted my monitor and it made some change but still pretty far off especially in greens. So I went into the Photoshop adjustments hue/saturation, adjusted, hue and saturation and intensity for 3 colors and then set that as preset to adjust all pics I send to mpix in future. I know there must be easier way and would be happy to hear it but am very curious about what causes the color hues, intensities and saturations to be so different

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

The solution is the title of your post - color calibration. Search for the term here and you can get some advice on calibration systems. Many monitors, especially ones not made for photography, are too bright and result in dark prints. It might be worth it to post one of the photos with the settings you sent to mpix and people here with calibrated monitors can tell you what it looks like on an accurate monitor.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Calibration,
If your monitor is calibrated then you will get a more consistent result. Sounds like your monitor is too bright and maybe not enough contrast.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Buy a calibration device such as a Datacolor Spyder, X-Rite ColorMunki, etc.

It's possible, but difficult to calibrate a computer monitor by eye. There's a lot of trial and error involved and you basically need a photo-quality inkjet to do it. Even then, you'll be wasting a lot of ink and paper.

Much better to just spend the $ to get a calibration device. They cost $100 and up. But if you do much printing, they'll pay for themselves in saved paper and ink... or the cost and delays of having reprints done if outsourcing your printing.

Most computer monitors right out of the box are wwaaaaayyyy too bright for accurate photo adjustments. That causes you to make your images too dark, which really shows up when you make prints, but also will be apparent to many people viewing your images online with a monitor other than yours.

When new most monitors simply aren't all that accurate rendering color, either. It's more subtle, but also causes you to mis-adjust your images. Some monitors have built in calibration. But most don't.

Plus, monitors change over time and with use. As they age they lose brightness and shift how they render color. So they need to be re-calibrated periodically. (My calibration device is set to remind me to do so monthly... some people prefer to do it more often, others a little less frequently.)

When I first got my monitor, my calibration device had me dial the brightness all the way down to "20". Now after 6 or 7 years of use, it has me set it to a little more than "50". That's how much brightness the monitor has lost with age and lots of use. I have no idea if "20" or "50" is a percentage or something... doesn't matter... just know that I now have to set it approx twice as bright as I did when it was new. I forget what the default brightness level setting was... that was many years ago. I do recall it was a lot of adjustment and made a world of difference.

There are two parts to a calibration device.... Hardware: a "colorimeter" that's used to measure the monitor display. And software: a program on your computer that uses the device to make the readings, help you make adjustments and create as accurate as possible a "color profile" that's loaded and used to tweak the display every time you start the computer.

The first thing you always do when you run calibration is set the monitor brightness. The calibration device takes a reading of a pure white screen and helps you make the adjustments using the monitor's controls. After that, the software displays a series of colors along with pure white, a series of grays and pure black "targets", from which it takes readings to build the color profile that is used on you computer.

This is all best done on a monitor that's used in a fixed location. It's difficult to calibrate laptops and tablet computers because they are used under a wide variety of lighting and viewed from different angles, which influence what you see on screen quite a bit.

It's also best if your monitor is located somewhere that lighting is relatively steady and isn't influenced by some strong colors. A "hood" for the monitor might help, too, by keeping oblique light off the screen. While hoods are available for some monitors, it's also possible to make your own. I made one from 1/2" matte black foam core board, black gaffer tape that attaches to my monitor with Velcro. I even built a little removable hatch into it so that I can install my Spyder calibration device when needed.

Finally, check with the printer to make sure you assign the correct color space to your images. Most work best with sRGB. An image in Adobe RGB or Pro Photo RGB color space displays fine on my computer, when viewed with programs that can utilize those color spaces... But for printing... or display on other peoples' computers using other programs... sRGB is the standard, while the others are risky and are likely to print or display oddly. CMYK is another color space that's mostly just used for commercial printing processes. I only use it when a customer specifically requests it (used for color separations for offset printing, for example).

Once you have your monitor calibrated, you can get "profiles" from printers, as well as paper and ink manufacturers, which you can load onto your computer to "soft proof" your images from within many image editing programs (Photoshop, for example). This isn't 100%, but gives you a pretty good idea how an image will look when printed. It can never be perfect, because with prints you are viewing reflected light, while with your monitor you are looking at a backlit, illuminated screen.... transmissive light.

Hope this helps!

linda lagace

tks
I was shocked when I went to calibrate my monitor to see how much I had to adjust the brightness.
you and several others let me know that this is not uncommon. I thought there was something wrong with the monitor or what I was doing!

linda lagace

Loads of good suggestions. I had not idea about the need to recalibrate fairly often. My pc is stuck in one place but a hood would be useful depending on the time of day and I guess I am going to have to just break down and buy a calibrating device I will start looking at your two suggested items
Tks

sergio

I am using ColorMunki Smile (I had the expensive one too) and it is user friendly and inexpensive.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

We see this scenario here frequently. Monitor calibration to International Color Consortium standards is a basic requirement for what-you-see-on-the-monitor-is-what-you-get-on-the-print color.

X-Rite and Datacolor are the primary sources of color management tools used to calibrate and profile monitors and to profile printers. Use what makes sense to you. Their websites are worth SCOURING (and DEVOURING the information there).

Calibrate the monitor for photography. Some common lab aims:

White Point 85-125 cd/m^2 (that's candelas per square meter)
Black Point 0.5 cd/m^2
Color Temperature 5000 to 6500K (or calibration software recommended value based on ambient light)
Gamma 2.2

Print viewing condition standard:

5000K, 91+ CRI, photo grade illuminant metered to EV 9.5 to 10.5 (referenced to ISO 100) at the print surface, using an incident meter (or a standard gray card and camera meter)

Ambient room conditions:

Very low light level — one 5000K photo grade CFL bounced off a white ceiling above and behind the monitor is about right. No direct light should fall on your screen!

The area surrounding the monitor should be middle gray, or as neutral as possible, with no bright colors.

Wear a dark gray or black shirt or smock.

Set your computer desktop to a charcoal gray or slightly brighter gray... no images that might bias your color vision.

Beware caffeine, prescription drugs, recent exposure to bright sunlight, pregnancy, emotional distraught, prolonged exposure to one saturated color, color blindness...

Take the Munsell Hue Test:

https://www.colormunki.com/game/huetest_kiosk

If your color perception is average or below, get someone else to adjust your color!

Ikonta531 Loc: Minneapolis

At 73 1/2 and with floaters and retinoschisis, I got a 4. Pretty good for an old hatched-out white guy.

linda lagace

TKS

linda lagace

I'm not too far behind

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Folks, whenever you reply to someone on UHH, please use the Quote Reply button, rather than the Reply button or the Quick Reply feature dialog. That way, the person you are addressing will know your response is for him/her. (I tend to use nothing but Quote Reply...)

linda lagace

tks I should have read further !