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To obtain consistent results, you should calibrate your output devices and use print services for which color-correction profiles are available. Dry Creek Photo provides ICC profiles for many Costco locations and other services.

Rather than buy new equipment, consider calibrating and re-calibrating your current equipment, several times over several months. This experience will teach you:

• How to calibrate and re-calibrate your devices.
• What to expect from calibration.
• The real limits of your equipment.
• The features you need if you do decide to buy new equipment.

The more accurate you want calibration to be, the more involved the process, and the more frequent re-calibration, will need to be. However, getting exact colors usually isn't that important. The goal should be to obtain consistent results.

• Lighting affects color perception. Edits performed on perfectly calibrated monitors will look different if the ambient lighting is different. Prints will look different when viewed with different lighting conditions.

• Most people do not have calibrated monitors. If your work will primarily be viewed digitally, you may obtain good-enough results by checking your work on commonly used phones and tablets.

• The viewing angle changes the "gamma" of LCD displays. This is particularly noticeable on large screens where the viewing angle from edge to edge can differ drastically. IPS technology reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect. Calibrate the center of the screen as well as you can for orthogonal viewing. Then take a few steps back when more critical evaluation is necessary.

If you can get the basic adjustments right (white balance, gamma, and brightness), you should be able to get reasonable output from most print services.

• Use the sRGB color space.
• Disable auto-correction when ordering prints, as Michael Jasper describes.
• Adjust your workflow based on results from smaller prints prior to ordering enlargements.

To obtain consistent results, you should calibrate your output devices and use print services for which color-correction profiles are available. Dry Creek Photo provides ICC profiles for many Costco locations and other services.

Rather than buy new equipment, consider calibrating and re-calibrating your current equipment, several times over several months. This experience will teach you:

• How to calibrate and re-calibrate your devices.
• What to expect from calibration.
• The real limits of your equipment.
• The features you need if you do decide to buy new equipment.

The more accurate you want calibration to be, the more involved the process, and the more frequent re-calibration, will need to be. However, getting exact colors usually isn't that important. The goal should be to obtain consistent results.

• Lighting affects color perception. Edits performed on perfectly calibrated monitors will look different if the ambient lighting is different because the brain will reinterpret the colors. Prints will look different when viewed in different types of lighting.

• Most people do not have calibrated monitors. If your work will primarily be viewed digitally, you may obtain good-enough results by checking your work on commonly used phones and tablets.

• The viewing angle changes the "gamma" of LCD displays. This is particularly problematic on large screens where the viewing angle from edge to edge can differ drastically.

  • IPS technology reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect, which can be seen clearly in test images.

  • Calibrate the center of the screen as well as you can for orthogonal viewing. Then take a few steps back when more critical evaluation is necessary.

If you can get the basic adjustments right (white balance, gamma, and brightness), you should be able to get reasonable output from most print services.

• Use the sRGB color space.
• Consider glancing at test images and color charts before editing to set your viewing angle and calibrate your brain.
• Disable auto-correction when ordering prints, as Michael Jasper describes.
• Adjust your workflow based on results from smaller prints prior to ordering enlargements.

See:

• Dry Creek Photo: Monitor Calibration Methods
• Lagom: LCD monitor test images

To obtain consistent results, you should calibrate your output devices and use print services for which color-correction profiles are available. Dry Creek Photo provides ICC profiles for many Costco locations and other services.

Rather than buy new equipment, you should consider calibrating and recalibrating your current equipment several times over several months. This way, you can learn:

• How to calibrate and recalibrate your devices.
• What to expect from calibration.
• What the real limits of your equipment are.
• What to look for should you decide to buy new equipment.

The basic adjustments are white balance, gamma, and brightness. If you can get these right, you should be able to get reasonable output from most print services. Use the sRGB color space, and disable auto-correction when ordering prints, as Michael Jasper describes.

The more accurate you want calibration to be, the more involved the process, and the more frequent recalibration, will need to be. However, getting exact colors usually isn't that important. The goal should be to obtain consistent results.

• Ambient lighting affects color perception. Edits performed on perfectly calibrated monitors will look different if the ambient lighting is different. Prints will look different when viewed under different lighting conditions.

• Most people do not have calibrated monitors. If your work will primarily be viewed digitally, you may obtain good-enough results by checking your work on a commonly used phones or tablets.

• The viewing angle changes the "gamma" of LCD displays. This is particularly noticeable on large screens where the viewing angle from edge to edge can differ drastically. IPS technology reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect. Calibrate the center of the screen as well as you can for orthogonal viewing. Then take a few steps back when more critical evaluation is necessary.

To obtain consistent results, you should calibrate your output devices and use print services for which color-correction profiles are available. Dry Creek Photo provides ICC profiles for many Costco locations and other services.

Rather than buy new equipment, consider calibrating and re-calibrating your current equipment, several times over several months. This experience will teach you:

• How to calibrate and re-calibrate your devices.
• What to expect from calibration.
• The real limits of your equipment.
• The features you need if you do decide to buy new equipment.

The more accurate you want calibration to be, the more involved the process, and the more frequent re-calibration, will need to be. However, getting exact colors usually isn't that important. The goal should be to obtain consistent results.

• Lighting affects color perception. Edits performed on perfectly calibrated monitors will look different if the ambient lighting is different. Prints will look different when viewed with different lighting conditions.

• Most people do not have calibrated monitors. If your work will primarily be viewed digitally, you may obtain good-enough results by checking your work on commonly used phones and tablets.

• The viewing angle changes the "gamma" of LCD displays. This is particularly noticeable on large screens where the viewing angle from edge to edge can differ drastically. IPS technology reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect. Calibrate the center of the screen as well as you can for orthogonal viewing. Then take a few steps back when more critical evaluation is necessary.

If you can get the basic adjustments right (white balance, gamma, and brightness), you should be able to get reasonable output from most print services.

• Use the sRGB color space.
• Disable auto-correction when ordering prints, as Michael Jasper describes.
• Adjust your workflow based on results from smaller prints prior to ordering enlargements.

To obtain consistent results, you should color calibrate your output devices and use a print service for which color correction profiles are available. Dry Creek Photo privides ICC profiles for print services, including many Costco locations.

Rather than buying new equipment, I'd suggest going through several recalibration-usage cycles over several months. This way, you can learn:

• How to calibrate and recalibrate your devices.
• What to expect from calibration.
• What the real limits of your equipment are.
• What to look for should you decide to buy new equipment.

The more accurate the calibration, the more involved the process, and the more frequent recalibration, will need to be. However, getting exact shades of colors usually isn't that important if you're intended outputs are primarily digital, where most people viewing your work will not have calibrated monitors.

The main points of calibration are white balance, gamma, and brightness. If you can get these right, you should be able to get satisfactory output from most print services. (Use sRGB, and disable auto-adjustments when ordering.)

A problem you will likely encounter while attempting to calibrate LCD displays is viewing angle changes the "gamma". This is particularly noticeable on large screens where the viewing angle from edge to edge differs drastically. Calibrate the center as well as you can for orthogonal viewing. Then when more critical evaluation is necessary, take a few steps back.

To obtain consistent results, you should calibrate your output devices and use print services for which color-correction profiles are available. Dry Creek Photo provides ICC profiles for many Costco locations and other services.

Rather than buy new equipment, you should consider calibrating and recalibrating your current equipment several times over several months. This way, you can learn:

• How to calibrate and recalibrate your devices.
• What to expect from calibration.
• What the real limits of your equipment are.
• What to look for should you decide to buy new equipment.

The basic adjustments are white balance, gamma, and brightness. If you can get these right, you should be able to get reasonable output from most print services.  Use the sRGB color space, and disable auto-correction when ordering prints, as Michael Jasper describes.

The more accurate you want calibration to be, the more involved the process, and the more frequent recalibration, will need to be. However, getting exact colors usually isn't that important. The goal should be to obtain consistent results.

• Ambient lighting affects color perception. Edits performed on perfectly calibrated monitors will look different if the ambient lighting is different. Prints will look different when viewed under different lighting conditions.

• Most people do not have calibrated monitors. If your work will primarily be viewed digitally, you may obtain good-enough results by checking your work on a commonly used phones or tablets.

• The viewing angle changes the "gamma" of LCD displays. This is particularly noticeable on large screens where the viewing angle from edge to edge can differ drastically. IPS technology reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect. Calibrate the center of the screen as well as you can for orthogonal viewing. Then take a few steps back when more critical evaluation is necessary.