MJPerini

The REASON a "Color Managed Workflow" was invented was precisely because of the problem you stated:
You edited pictures so they looked good too you on your display , sent them to someone who thought they had a red cast.
In the photography and publishing industry Standards were developed D50 D65 and others, then tools were developed in order to assure displays on both ends would display a given file in very similar ways, Both for color and luminance.
Not all displays are capable of being accurately calibrated, but most recent displays can usually be calibrated for the sRGB color space use for the web and for lots of (but not all) printing processes.
Most displays are also set too bright (because brighter sells better than 'accurate').
The vast majority of computer displays in the world are not calibrated, but nearly all displays used in the publishing and professional photography world ARE. The difference can sometimes be substantial.
Photographers who make high quality prints on wide gamut printers also calibrate because it saves money and frustration getting prints that match the display.
For personal use, you can do what ever makes you happy, there are no calibration police, but for publication you are going to run into the issue a lot.
You haven't supplied the photograph, so others can comment on what they see so this is not a comment on your picture, and it sounds like it "Looked good to You" but the issue is how your image TRANSLATES to the editor's viewing system.
If you go to a paint store to buy paint, you will look at standardized color swatches, most paint stores also have standardized viewing light above their swatches. Standardization is just part of the deal. When you take those swatches outside, or to your home they may well look different. That's what is going on here.
Good luck

Average displays have gotten better

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The new Apple Pro HDR display in the 14” and 16” M1/M2 MacBook Pros need special tools for calibration.

Dennis833 Loc: Australia

The magazine editor is seeing the correct colours on a large gamut monitor calibrated to around 80 cdm 5,800K. He then converts the images to the printing press CMYK profile and brighten the images accordingly. You will need to borrow or invest in a good calibrater to get more accurate color to print.

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Don

delder Loc: Maryland

I agree! Your output MUST match the requirements of your client.
This may involve several parties if you are sending work out for printing then on to a customer.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Laptop screens are difficult to calibrate. Well, more accurately, they are difficult to keep calibrated.

When you calibrate any monitor, some part of the equation is the surrounding lighting, colors of walls, etc. But because a laptop is regularly moved around, it basically needs recalibration each time it's opened and warmed up to use.

One solution is to get an external monitor to use with the laptop and calibrate that. Then you can take the laptop with you, but only do your "serious" editing with it plugged in to the work station monitor.

Something that might help is some sort of hood to shade the laptop.... Or, for that matter, any monitor. Some full size monitors come with a hood. I made one for my monitor, using half inch thick black foam board. It does the job. I've seen little black "tents" made for laptops that probably work pretty well.

This won't completely solve the problem calibrating laptops, though. The color of the lighting around you can still have an influence. Plus the screen probably gets opened to a different angle each time it's used, which may effect apparent brightness.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Curious:
Lots of helpful replies - but none from UKChris - the OP.

UKChris

All.

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. I have been using my laptop screen to determine the final color & brightness of my images and I am well aware of the variation due to screen angle. I have transitioned to using a separate flat screen monitor which will bring consistency.
I have recalibrated the color space and confirm I am using sRGB. Hopefully this will give me a truer and more consistent image. At the end of the day, it's what the editor sees that matters and hopefully this will get closer to his view.

Thanks again.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Interesting. I have used ccProfiler for years to calibrate Monitors on my MacBookPros. Recently with the M1 Macs, the process has changed, it is no longer advised to use a commercial colorimeter to calibrate the M1 laptop screens. Please advise if you would like more info on that.

I man sorry but your attitude about editing on a Laptop is nonsense. ALL LCD monitors have a narrow angle of view and intensity changes greatly if you are off angle. Some are worse than others and the Apple screens are definitely not the worst. But that doesn't matter if you maintain a consistent viewing angle when editing. Why wouldn't you?

It's important when doing editing work to have (1) consistent low intensity lighting, (2) a consistent angle of view.
This means you and the computer are in the same place with the same room lighting.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

See my reply directly above to JohnSwanda

JD750 Loc: SoCal

That's like saying my neighbor doesn't mow the grass so I won't mow mine.

I recall you have 4 monitors and none are calibrated. So you don't really have much experience to base those kind of statements.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

One of the reasons many users fail when trying to use laptops is that they have all sorts of battery management features and room light adjustment features. If you are going to use an Apple MacBook Pro:

> Turn off "Automatically adjust brightness."

> Turn off "True Tone."

> Turn off "Slightly dim the display on battery."

> Turn off "Night Shift."

> Turn off "High Dynamic Range." (if available)

> Consult Apple's website for information about calibrating Pro Motion HDR displays in the top end MacBook Pros.

> MacBook Airs with conventional P3-capable LED displays can be calibrated nicely with a SpyderX and SpyderXElite software.

Consistent viewing angle and low ambient light are critical to your color adjustment environment.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Exactly!! Thank you for that additional info on all those settings. I knee-jerk turn all that s*** OFF so I forgot about that. I have calibrated many Apple LED laptops many times (prior to the M1) with no issues.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Even back in 2008, I was calibrating my MacBook Pro 15" and matching it to my 24" NEC monitor... and our lab standards at Herff Jones Photography. I knew that tests I adjusted on my screens would match closely with prints off our Noritsu mini-labs.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

In my commercial work, I routinely deal with publishers, lithographic printers, and smaller reproduction compans using Xerox equipment, and in the olden days color print labs for larger prints that I could b not produce in-house- over 30x40. I have lots of experience in these matters of color reproduction. I have some simple advice.

First of all, you have to clean up your own act, so to speak befor you can direct anyone as to what to do. Calibrate your monitor and your computer system using the kit of your choice. Back in the day when we usually submitted color transparency to printers, we made certain that we were viewing our chromes with the same recommended light source as that of the printing house. The same thing applied to prints. I made sure the lab color correction manager and I were viewing tests, proofs, and prints under the same light source.

In digital you want to ensure that, on any specific job, your monitor and system and that of the publisher, printer, etc. are coordinated On big jobs, I may run a few advanced tests to avoid ongoing back-and-forth corrections.

As for color saturation, tints, shifts whatever, I like to work all of this out in advance. Warm, cool, neutral? depends on the job and waht is expected. A sligh oversaturated image of a landscape for a tourist brochure may work out nicely- not so much for a product shot where color accuracy is important. A warmer rendition might be appropriate for a portraot, possibly a fashion shot, but not for an industrial scene or a catalog shot where color selections are specified. Art reproduction should be neutral and right on the money! Wahtever the case may be, all of these details have to be determined in advance in meetings or conversations with clients, art directors, agency account executives, printers, or whoever is coordinating the job.

Some printing houses are equipped to make minor color corrections somewhere in the pre-press process.

If the entire job is thrown in the lap of the photograher, it is best for the photographer to contact and speak directly with the printer. Oftentimes the client is not aware of any specific technical requirements.

You need to know much of this information even before you shoot. Certain precautions and nuances in light, exposure, and contrast, at the camera, can expedite processing. There can be some issues that can not be solved in post-processing if there are series errors in white balance, exposure, ratio, etc.

The keys to avoiding production delays, dissatisfied clients, and misunderstandings with printers are communication and networking. The technologies, nomenclature, and reference to color percentages, nuances, etc., may differ between the photographic and graphic art or reproduction industries. as well as refer to specifications with these distinctions.

Books can be written about color perception, taste, moods, psychology, colorblindness, and sight impairment- it's complex as heck. In my own business, when I had an in-house color lab, the first thing I did when screening potential employees was to make sure they did not have deficits in color perception or vision. Some clients may be color blind and forgiven- bless them- but NOT the lab staff! Hopefully not the photographer!