Below are some general guidelines if you would like to do your own Color Corrections:
- The use of an electronic device similar to the i1 from Xrite is recommended but not mandatory.
If you are using an electronic device here are some settings to consider:
Use 2.2 Gamma/5000 Kelvin/Brightness of 80-90 cd/sq meter as a starting point.
- When Color Correcting your files make sure you do so in sRGB or Adobe RGB color space.
- Use our Bay ROES Economy Version to order prints with No Color Correction.
- We will make 5 prints free of charge for you to test your Calibration.
- In the Bay ROES Economy Version please find our free Evaluation Print Product.
- For this Evaluation, use a variety of images, reflective of a wide range of your work.
- When you get your free Evaluation Prints, compare them to your monitor.
- Remember that the lighting in your print viewing area is critical.
- If you have further questions before or after this process please email us at support@bayphoto.com.
Color management is a process
of insuring the accuracy of the colors of a digital
image. Approaches to color management
vary greatly. Even
the most complex and sophisticated systems have limitation. Recognizing
the limitations of any system goes a long way toward
insuring success in regards to printing and viewing
images.
The
first place to start is with properly exposed image
files. Not
enough can be said about this; Proper image exposure
is the #1 thing that you can do to insure the highest
quality digital photographs possible. Once
an image has been captured it can be viewed and in
some cases manipulated either for artistic effect,
retouching, or to compensate for improper exposure. Our
approach is to treat digital files as though they were
conventional negatives, we can view and adjust each
image for density, color, contrast and saturation.
With the number of images that are taken by professional
photographers we do not feel it is practical for wedding
and portrait photographers to, in general, color correct
all their images. Having said that, some photographers
prefer to do their own color correcting and we do offer
a lower cost Economy Service for non-color corrected
printing.
If
you do your own color correction,
your computers monitor should be Calibrated, there
are many calibration devices on the market. Some
calibration settings to consider: Use 2.2 Gamma,
5000 Kelvin with a brightness of 80-90 cd/sq meter
as a starting point depending on your viewing environment.
As
an alternative you can also check and adjust your
monitor as needed to display the images as accurately
as possible. Once you have adjusted or calibrated
your monitor, you can use a recently printed order
and/or our Bay Reference Images. Open the image files and compare the
printed output to that of the displayed image. Look
at several different images before drawing
any conclusions or making any monitor adjustments. Viewing
environment and ambient light greatly affect
the look of both the image on the screen and
the printed photograph. Daylight
provides the most accurate viewing light. Florescent
lights should be a temperature of 5000 Kelvin
or Deluxe Cool White. Incandescent lights,
common light bulbs, are not a good choice for
use when viewing printed work, however a combination
of incandescent and florescent lighting could
work. Be aware when viewing images that the
look of the photograph will change depending
on the color of the light illuminating the
print.
After
looking at a number of different scene types take
note of any common differences. Are
all the photographs lighter or darker than
the computers monitor? Are the colors different?
If the errors are common then a monitor adjustment
can help to solve the discrepancy. Familiarize
yourself with your monitor controls prior to
attempting any changes. It is a good idea to write down your
starting values, this will allow you to revert
back to these settings should you make an improper
adjustment. Please
also note that the colors displayed on LCD
and flat panel monitors are very susceptible
to change as your viewing angle changes.
By
taking a simplified approach you can achieve
a close match to our printing systems that
will allow for overall color corrections. There
are colors and contrasts in a final print,
which will not be accurately displayed on the
monitor no matter how much calibration you
do. You
can achieve a very close match on any one given
image. The problem arises when you expect any
and all images to display perfectly. It
is only through monitoring of the output
and display that a system can be properly matched. Our
production environment is such that we have
constant feedback from the printers and can
make adjustments accordingly to insure our
monitors display an accurate rendition of our
prints in order to provide you with the highest
quality prints possible from your camera files. |
