Dan Sabin Photography

Monitor Calibration with Spyder3 Express for printing with Mpix:

2010-05-11T22:18:00.000-10:00

I've been working with this for a couple of weeks now. That is, trying to get optimal monitor calibration with my Spyder3 Express for printing at Mpix (http://www.mpix.com/). Let me say I believe the Spyder3 is a very good product and the software it comes with is fast and easy. Mpix does a great job printing and their customer service is superb in my experiences with them. If you have a problem contact them and they will work with you. I don't have a high end monitor but a good one for a TN TFT ( Viewsonic VX2640w). I paid around $400 for it. I think price is proportionate to quality when it comes to monitors so I'm taking all of this into consideration here. Another point I'd like to make is there are many variables regarding the calibration of your monitor for printing on a specific printer that can affect your results.

Basic Calibration to Print Variables:
1. calibration device/software
2. monitor
3. monitor viewing environment
4. how you proof your prints
5. printer
6. print paper
7. print viewing environment
7. your eye perception
8. ICC profile integrity

Setting up your Spyder3 Express:
It's actually quite simple. Pretty much load your software, plug in your device and follow the on screen instructions. You place the device against the screen and a series of colors and B/W tones are displayed. The calibrator reads the colors and creates a profile which is automatically loaded into your system on start up.
Results of Calibration: You'll most likely see an immediate change in your color hues and shades for the better.

I will continue this post as time permits.....

Lenses:

2010-04-28T20:20:00.009-10:00

Discussions relating to lenses. Examples: lenses you like or dislike, recommendations, problems, lens care, what lens should you buy for your needs, etc.

Cameras:

2010-04-28T18:20:00.010-10:00

Discussions related to cameras themselves. Examples: features, specifications, problems, things you like or dislike about your camera, new models, new camera features etc. Things relating to camera technique for a specific type of shooting should be posted under postings such as: Shooting Portraits, Shooting Landscapes, Shooting Sports, etc.

Monitor Calibration:

2010-04-27T21:00:00.025-10:00

Discussions related to monitor calibration and the implications it has on your photography. Examples: how you calibrate your monitor, calibration devices, problems you may have calibrating your monitor, etc.

If you take your photo viewing and editing even moderately seriously you need to calibrate your monitor. This may be the first and most important step if you plan to color manage your photos. I avoided this initially, but after some printing and viewing my photos on other peoples monitors I soon realized it's importance. If you're going to edit your photos for color correction don't even bother if you haven't calibrated because corrections you make most likely will only look good, as far as color goes, on "your" monitor.

Here's a few clues pointing to the realization that you need to calibrate your monitor:
1. You print your photos at home, send them out or have them printed at your local store print service and the colors just don't look right.

2. You send a friend a photo via email and you get a response with the question "Why is the sky purple?"

3. You post your photos online and EVERYONE wonders "Why is the sky purple?" (Some people do know why and so will you!)

4. You decide to tweak your monitor colors a little so the photo you're working on looks more real only to find that the colors in all the previous photos you worked on now look out of whack. (out of whack-technical term for crappy, color-wise that is. Fairly new term, you probably won't find it Wikipedia yet.)

5. You submit your photo to Sky and Telescope for publishing convinced that "you" of all the photographers in world have photographed a blue moon. You get a response saying thanks they already have some but you may consider submitting to a magazine doing an article on color management.

Monitor calibration methods:

There are many factors that can influence the colors in your photos but for this post let's stick with calibration. There are a couple of ways you can calibrate. The first one is calibrating by eye. It's better than no calibration but not the "best" way to adjust color. Our brain has it's own calibration scheme and it can fool us because it adapts what we see to what we think we should see, if that makes any sense. You can search the web and find any number of sites that have free color adjustment tools and images for eye calibration. Another way is to print a photo or have a photo printed, compare it to your screen and adjust your screen colors accordingly but this approach can be specific to a given printer (whole other post on that) and most likely will not provide consistent results. The best way to calibrate is with a monitor calibration device.
Selecting a monitor calibration device:
There's a few main companies out there that make them. Which one you purchase will depend on your budget and your requirements. Since I never had seen a calibration device I was reluctant to spend a lot on my first one. Setting a budget at $100 or less narrowed it down. After researching I chose the Spyder3 Express (link to read users reviews at Amazon on the sidebar).
Using your calibration device:
It's really pretty simple to use.In this case my Spyder3 Express. I'm usually a little intimidated by new things but if you just jump in you'll see the waters fine. You pretty much just install the software and it guides you through the process. It asks that you warm up your display for half an hour prior to calibrating, check that there's no direct light on your monitor, adjust your monitor settings (contrast to default, brightness to what's comfortable and if your monitor offers a Kelvin setting, set to 6500), plug in the Spyder3 unit to your USB port. You basically hang the cord with a small attached weight over the top of your monitor with the unit resting on your screen and press "next" and your display will start emitting colors and the Spyder3 will record and adjust the monitor color and create a profile automatically. When its done hit "finish" and the software will display before and after correction photos so you can see and compare the difference from the calibration and then select "finish". That's it! Your monitor is now color calibrated. You almost certainly will see an immediate, pleasant improvement in your displayed colors.
Is it worth spending more?:
This reverts back to your requirements. The more expensive units will adjust gamma which basically refers to image brightness, allow for more control of over profile settings, and allow you to calibrate your printer, projectors and televisions. I haven't used more expensive units yet but would like some input from others regarding their experience with the these other models compared to less expensive ones. I just want to say that calibrating my monitor at this level has provided a major improvement in the sharing and printing of my images.

Monitors:

2010-04-24T20:50:00.020-10:00

Discussions related to monitors used for photo editing. Examples: personal experiences with given monitors and their relativity to photo editing, issues you may have with your current monitor, suggestions for purchasing a monitor, monitor technology, etc.

One of the components that plays a role in color management is your monitor. Some people still claim the old CRT monitors, were, and maybe still are to some one of the best options for photo editing because of viewing angle, color purity and contrast but quality lcd monitors are match. So for the sake of this post I'll be talking about lcd monitors.

Types of LCD monitors:
Currently there are three main types that I often see referred to that people buy for either normal use and ones that bridge the requirements for photo editing. Without getting too technical they are TN, S-PVA/P-MVA and IPS. That list is in order of good to best based on what I've read and seen so far.
Glossy vs. Matte screen:
Most of the comments I've read tend to shy away from glossy screens for photo editing. There's supposedly issues with blacks, monitor calibration and distractions from the reflective surface of the screen. A glossy screen might be alright for a short period of time but if you work on your photos for several hours at a time it may be problematic. I must add that I really like the way my photos look on a glossy screen once I'm done editing.

What I have:

I currently have a Viewsonic VX2640 (TN). It was a great step up from my previous monitor and I consider color to be pretty decent (based on my viewing and print results) and I honestly like it. It has 102% NTSC color capability and 1000:1 contrast ration which basically means it has rich colors and decent blacks. I like a bigger monitor for photo editing. I personally wouldn't want to work with anything less than 24". It's just easier on the eyes. I strain less and detail work is just easier. I calibrate and generally it all works pretty well for me.

What I'd like to have:
I have seen some IPS monitors (Lacie, NEC, and some Dells) and yes they are nice, real nice. Wider viewing angle, better blacks and shadows, easy on your eyes and I'm sure there's other benefits as well. If I could justify the price that's what I would own. Haven't seen an S-PVA/P-MVA but they are rated better than a TN. The next thing I was curious about was whether a glossy or anti-glare screen was better for editing.

General Comment:
In this post I just want to raise your awareness that all lcd monitors screens aren't the same and that prices obviously vary for a reason on any given screen size. This and most of my posts aren't going to delve into all the technical aspects of any given topic but rather my conclusions based on what I've read and experienced. Quite frankly, I don't understand how all of the monitor specs relate to my viewing experience but some worth comparing may be contrast ratio, viewing angle, and pixel pitch. It's especially nice if you can view monitors on display somewhere. You may not be able to afford to upgrade to that nice IPS lcd monitor but for a reasonable price you may be able to upgrade your current monitor to make your photo editing a little easier and more enjoyable...

Color Management:

2010-04-21T21:38:00.014-10:00

Discussions related to the use of color management as a means of achieving your final goals for your photos. Examples: Workflow, working in different colors spaces, ICC profiles, problems with print colors or online posted photos vs. what you see on your screen, proofing photos etc.

I started out taking photos happy with what I saw on my screen and liked some of them enough to go out and buy some photo paper and print some of my favorites. I was really excited with my results. Just that the fact that they looked pretty close to what I saw on my screen was enough to drive me on. After continuing for some time (at the expense of a lot of ink, that's another story) I soon realized that some came out better than others. The outcome a result of playing with printer settings and some basic editing. Throwing "bad" copies in the trash was just the price of printing yourself and hoping the next one would be better.

This works for a while until you empty your trash can and buy a few more gallons of ink. Ah, now I have it, I must need a better printer. So, I bought a better printer. In my case a Canon MP600, that was a couple years back, still have it, and it does a pretty decent job on prints up to 8.5x11 (8x10) and gets pretty good mileage with the inks. The quality of my first prints were much better but not as good as I thought they should be. Maybe I should get some Canon paper it costs more but I'll give it try. Another step in the right direction! Now I was getting somewhere. I hadn't realized the chemistry that's involved with the inks and the paper surface and how important it is with the ink leveling and drying. Some may try other brands and hit on a paper that works for them and that's fine but there is enough to talk about there for a whole other topic. Ok, back to this topic. My prints were much better but some colors matched my screen, some didn't. Some were darker, some lighter. Truth of the matter was I was getting more critical of my results with regard to what I saw after editing and what got spit out of my printer. Trust me it happens and if you've read this far you've either been there or are close to getting there. At this point a better printer and paper won't help. What will help is "COLOR MANAGEMENT". I would always try to avoid any article, blog or website that mentioned those words. To be honest I was intimidated by that phrase. So I started reading but not understanding much of it. Monitor calibration, color gamut, color space all strange to me but I started...and it has helped my prints to look much better, I waste much less paper and ink and get more consistent, predictable results. Color management will help you print better prints at home or through a commercial printer. It will help the photos that you send to others look better and improve the looks of photos you post on websites. It's not something I have learned quickly and there's so much more I need to learn. So in following posts I will try to explain to you some of the basics that have really helped me with thanks to others that have so generously shared their knowledge on their websites. It doesn't have to be learned all at once and I think every step you take towards learning and using some of the principles color management has to offer will help you yield better prints both on paper and online. Till next post...