Colour Calibration

COLOUR CALIBRATION for Photographers BROUGHT TO YOU BY CameraPrő THE PROBLEM THE SOLUTION Each device has a unique way of generating and producing colour. Because of this, the appearance of colour changes amongst devices. To adjust or "calibrate" each device to produce consistent colour. 3 WAYS TO CALIBRATE YOUR DEVICES GETTING THE CAMERA USING A GREY CARD RIGHT MONITOR CALIBRATION First and foremost, using a grey card is essential to create a standard, neutral reference point to ensure your whites are true white and colour GREY CARD casts are removed. Ensure you're shooting in RAW and photograph a grey card in front of your subject at the start of Open the image in your preferred editing suite, use the white balance dropper tool to sample the grey card in the image, this will automatically set a neutral white balance. Apply this to all the photos from that session. For more information on this topic, search "Using a grey card". your session. Different types of LCD monitor technologies have different traits, TN (Twisted Nematic) and IPS (In-Plane Switching) are the two major types. TNs are more common due to their lower cost, however IPSS display a larger colour gamut and have greater contrast – both of which are essential when used to accurately evaluate your images. GETTING THE RIGHT MONITOR TN IPS TN IPS CONTRAST COMPARISON COLOUR COMPARISON HARDWARE CALIBRATION Over time, monitors and printers lose their colour accuracy, so it's important to calibrate them every month or so. FOR MONITORS Monitor calibration tools like the SpyderPro optically check your monitor to read and then adjust your monitor as nessecary to ensure it's displaying colours as it should. FOR PRINTERS SpyderPrint, (also a Datacolor product) is a kit of tools to create custom printer profiles. The software allows you to display colours in Photoshop as your printer will print them. ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR BETTER COLOUR CUSTOM CAMERA PROFILE Where it's essential that the printed colours precisely match the actual colour of the physical object (say you're shooting coloured fabrics for a catalogue), you'll need to create a custom camera profile. This is a more advanced process using a Datacolor SpyderCheckr and your chosen editing suite for each camera/lens combination. AMBIENT LIGHT ON YOUR SCREEN Different lighting in your room affects the way you see colours on your calibrated monitor. Make sure you perform your calibration in the exact same environment that you're going to be viewing and don't forget about changing sunlight! WEB VS. PRINT If your image is only going to be used for web, keep in mind that your viewers and client more-than-likely won't be using colour calibrated monitors. Where it's important, supply printed proofs or show them on a calibrated screen. CameraPro2com.au| The Professional's Choice - Photographic Retailer. HOW IT WORKS