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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Why is my color off?

3
Spyder2Express Color Calibration
From the moment you click the shutter to make a photo till the final place the photo is to be viewed can make or break a photo.

After you transfer your images from your digital camera to your computer you can view the images on the screen of your computer.  If you choose to make any changes to the photo's colors this is where if your monitor is not calibrated correctly you could be changing colors that need no change at all.

I use the DataColor Spyder2Express to calibrate my monitor.  There are many different tools you can use to calibrate.  Pantone huey, X-Rite Eye One and there are other devices to help you calibrate.

The difference between the devices is how many monitors you can calibrate and how many choices of colors that you can choose to calibrate.

If you are using PhotoShop, Lightroom, or any other software to manipulate images then you need to calibrate your monitor so you as you work you are seeing the most accurate color possible with your monitor.

1
Calibrating the blue channel


2
Calibrating the red channel
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2 comments:

  1. Chicky10:28 PM

    That's so funny, I just used the spyder to calibrate my monitor not even a half hour ago. I'm having a lot of trouble with the color being consistent between Bridge, Photoshop and Lightroom. Do you have any tips? The spyder helped a lot, but there's still some inconsistency.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown7:55 PM

    If you had PhotoShop CS4 and now have CS5 it would look different. What you are addressing is really how each software is written makes them handle color a little differently. Believe it or not some of the chips in the cameras are actually the same chips but in different manufacturers cameras. While the chips are the same the software to write the information onto you card is different and will give you a different color.

    The one thing you have that you didn't have before calibrating is knowing your monitor is giving you the best and most accurate color it can give you. Hey, but even this can vary depending on which monitor tool you use. Try the Pantone Huey and it will give you a slightly different look. Only when the tools all try and give you the exact same color temperature, gamma and use similar targets will you get almost identical color.

    So, why do this, well without doing it you are even further in the dark and now you are within some sort of a tolerance. The difference was even more dramatic with CRT monitors (Old Tube Monitor).

    ReplyDelete

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