Perseverance Photography

A Word About Color: Web vs. Prints ...

Color is very subjective. What I think looks good, may not appeal to you. Beyond that, computer monitors display color very differently than prints. Furthermore, web browsers cannot display the amount of colors or depth that photo programs [Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro/Photoshop Elements] can. This makes processing digital image files for the web and prints challenging to say the least!

Even if your monitor is adjusted perfectly (see below), what you see in the online gallery will probably show less detail and appear slightly darker than the print especially in the dark areas. The web version will show more contrast too, and the print may look slightly flat by comparison. That said, again, color and contrast are very subjective. I use a hardware device called a colorimeter to calibrate my monitor (which standardizes the monitor adjustment) and printer profiles that help match the inkset and paper to the monitor. This is called a "color managed workflow" and is currently the best way to bring most of the detail available in the file to the print. I do my best to match the detailed, full resolution digital file (not the web file you see in the gallery) to the final print. I usually get pretty close but like apples and oranges, the files displayed on the web will appear differently than prints you hold in your hand and they always will because they are different media.

Monitor Adjustment and Calibration
If the prints in the gallery appear to be way too dark (remember they will be slightly darker because they are being viewed through a web browser), way too light or if the color is wildly off, you may need to adjust your monitor. Monitors lose their factory settings over time. Older monitors may need to be replaced. Some may only be able to display 8 or 16 bit color. If that is the case, you are missing the best of the web! Here is a link that covers a simple monitor calibration technique that anyone can accomplish. PK

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The following is from the website, Catching the Light:

Computer Monitors
by Jerry Lodrigus

Step Wedge Adjustment
For best viewing of the photographs, adjust your monitor to the grayscale step tablet with the instructions below. Your monitor should be set to a minimum of 16 bit color. To set the color quality (bit depth), right click on a blank area of your DESKTOP and choose PROPERTIES>SETTINGS>COLOR QUALITY>16 BIT....24 or 32 BIT is even better!

Now that the bit depth is correct, adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor so that you can see each step separately. Pay more attention to the black steps here. The darkest step should be as dark as you can make it while still being able to distinguish it from the next lighter step.

These pages are optimized for viewing at 24 or 32 bit color and a monitor resolution of 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768.

Thanks and credit to Chuck Vaughn for first thinking of using this step wedge for monitor calibration.