freakyclean
05-17-2002, 04:05 PM
In my personal opinion a lot of colour calibration is overkill. I think it is good to have a basic setup though.
First it is good to understand what exactly a colour profiles does and how it works.
The purpose of colour profiling on your computer is to reproduce accurate colour from one device to another by mapping each devices colour gamut. When done correctly this means that the photo you scanned will be displayed as accurately as possible by your monitor and printed as accurately as possible by your printer. This process will never be perfect as each device inherently has certain limitations.
Colour management works this way: first you have a system RGB colour profile like Adobe 1998 RGB. This is the basis of all the other colour management on your computer. All other devices look to this to display proper colour. You scanner should have a profile created by the manufacturer as to the colour gamut of the scanner. The same applies for your monitor, printer and any other device that uses colour. Any files you open will be check to see if they have a colour profile attached and whether it should convert the colour to your profile, keep the old one or if the file has no profile assign one to it.
One important note about your monitor is that you should set it for your eyes not to a monitor profile. You do this because your eyes are not perfect and you see colours differently that other people, also different lighting in the room will also affect the colour. By adjusting the monitor to your eyes and lighting you are able to see how the colours look to "perfect" people. If you are not the only one using your computer this may be a problem. To calibrate the monitor to your eyes you can use Adobe gamma that comes with Photoshop and other Adobe programs, a utility that comes with your monitor or programs like Colorific. Monitors are the most important device to calibrate, as they are the easiest to adjust and therefore the easiest to be wrong. For example: if the power goes out and your settings get reset or if you are playing Quake (or other games) and bump the brightness so you can see into that corner. Monitors are also affected by age more than other devices. The electron guns age at different rates and become weaker affecting the colour balance.
The way I setup Adobe programs for colour:
RGB - Adobe 1998
CMYK - US sheet fed coated or un coated
Dot gain 10%
For colour engine I use Adobe over Microsoft and on the Mac Heidelberg over Adobe
Intent should be set to Relative Colorimetric for viewing photos and stuff
These are setting for printing puposes and will change depending what you use the files for. If you are a web designer for example you will more than likely want different settings
As long as you have your monitor setup right and programs setup basically right I have never had a problem. I think having your monitor, scanner and printer profiled by a professional is mostly a waste of time. Any process is going to vary so much that anything more than a basic profile is pretty much worthless (in my opinion). Colour off a printing press will change by the room temperature raising or dropping 5 degrees or the paper sitting overnight or the weather being damp. Quality of photo scans changes depending on type of paper used or finish (matte/glossy). Printer colour will change with each batch of ink/toner or even different packs of paper (or types of paper).
That is about all for now...
First it is good to understand what exactly a colour profiles does and how it works.
The purpose of colour profiling on your computer is to reproduce accurate colour from one device to another by mapping each devices colour gamut. When done correctly this means that the photo you scanned will be displayed as accurately as possible by your monitor and printed as accurately as possible by your printer. This process will never be perfect as each device inherently has certain limitations.
Colour management works this way: first you have a system RGB colour profile like Adobe 1998 RGB. This is the basis of all the other colour management on your computer. All other devices look to this to display proper colour. You scanner should have a profile created by the manufacturer as to the colour gamut of the scanner. The same applies for your monitor, printer and any other device that uses colour. Any files you open will be check to see if they have a colour profile attached and whether it should convert the colour to your profile, keep the old one or if the file has no profile assign one to it.
One important note about your monitor is that you should set it for your eyes not to a monitor profile. You do this because your eyes are not perfect and you see colours differently that other people, also different lighting in the room will also affect the colour. By adjusting the monitor to your eyes and lighting you are able to see how the colours look to "perfect" people. If you are not the only one using your computer this may be a problem. To calibrate the monitor to your eyes you can use Adobe gamma that comes with Photoshop and other Adobe programs, a utility that comes with your monitor or programs like Colorific. Monitors are the most important device to calibrate, as they are the easiest to adjust and therefore the easiest to be wrong. For example: if the power goes out and your settings get reset or if you are playing Quake (or other games) and bump the brightness so you can see into that corner. Monitors are also affected by age more than other devices. The electron guns age at different rates and become weaker affecting the colour balance.
The way I setup Adobe programs for colour:
RGB - Adobe 1998
CMYK - US sheet fed coated or un coated
Dot gain 10%
For colour engine I use Adobe over Microsoft and on the Mac Heidelberg over Adobe
Intent should be set to Relative Colorimetric for viewing photos and stuff
These are setting for printing puposes and will change depending what you use the files for. If you are a web designer for example you will more than likely want different settings
As long as you have your monitor setup right and programs setup basically right I have never had a problem. I think having your monitor, scanner and printer profiled by a professional is mostly a waste of time. Any process is going to vary so much that anything more than a basic profile is pretty much worthless (in my opinion). Colour off a printing press will change by the room temperature raising or dropping 5 degrees or the paper sitting overnight or the weather being damp. Quality of photo scans changes depending on type of paper used or finish (matte/glossy). Printer colour will change with each batch of ink/toner or even different packs of paper (or types of paper).
That is about all for now...