An Overview of Color Management

Transcription

1 Introduction Color Management Monitor Calibration Windows Monitor Calibration Mac Further Information on Color Management Introduction An Overview of Color Management At the UCLA Office of Instructional Development s Teaching Enhancement Center, we have taken the utmost care to calibrate our equipment and coordinate our color management system so that your digitized Media Conversion Grant images will be as true to the original images as possible. In an effort to manage differences between monitors, printers, projectors and other devices, professionals in image-production fields have created a system of components to perform color management. A properly configured color management system should synchronize color representation across devices and mediums. For example, if you find that your monitor does not represent the colors of your scanned images as they appear in the original slide, you can calibrate your monitor to take advantage of the synchronization of your computer s color management system. When you calibrate your monitor, you will also create a color profile for it. If you are viewing the image on a Macintosh computer, we suggest that you take a few minutes to calibrate your monitor. If you are viewing the image on a Windows-based computer, your options may be more limited unless you have Adobe Photoshop installed. If you do not own Photoshop, you can still make adjustments to the brightness and contrast of your monitor. Using imaging software you can also make changes to the image itself, but please be advised that adjustments made to the color content of the image are relative to your particular monitor. You may, should you publish the image on a web page, find that the image looks radically different than you intended on computers other than your own. Color Management In Brief Different devices and mediums present color differently. Ink on paper is different than phosphors in a monitor, and light shining through film is different again. Each device in the chain of image creation recognizes and communicates color differently: film camera, digital camera, digital scanner, monitor, printer, projector, etc. Complicating this further, no two devices are exactly alike. Two devices of the same brand and model may be similar, but two monitors of different manufacturers can differ radically. This phenomenon is obvious when you stand before an in-store display of television sets all playing the same program. Color Management Overview - 1

2 Professionals in graphic and image-related fields need to reproduce color as consistently as possible across devices and mediums. If a photographer photographs a red rose, he needs to be sure the final printed image will recreate the same tones of red. To achieve this, in the digital realm, professionals use an array of strategies and protocols collectively referred to as color management. Color management allows each device (monitor, printer, scanner, camera) to have a digital profile which describes its specific representation of color. Software can then compare different color profiles which, in effect, translates color information from one device to the next. The digital image files we created at the Teaching Enhancement Center from your original slides contain embedded color profile information. Software that uses color management will read this information and translate the file so that it displays properly on the current device. For example, with all devices properly profiled and color management software properly set, if you scan a photograph with a Nikon scanner, view the image in Adobe Photoshop, and print the image to an HP printer, the resulting images (both screen display and print) should very nearly match the original. Color Management Overview - 2

3 To do the above, accurate profiles of your devices scanner, monitor, printer must be available. (Most desktop inkjet printers do not provide profiles but automatically account for the profile of your monitor/system.) You create a monitor profile that accounts for your hardware and the lighting conditions of its environment by calibrating your monitor. Monitor Calibration Windows platform Unfortunately the Windows operating system does not allow for consumer-level monitor calibration. However, if you have Adobe Photoshop installed, you can calibrate your monitor using the Adobe Gamma control panel. On the Start menu, choose Settings > Control Panel Launch the Adobe Gamma control panel Choose the Step-by-Step Wizard which will walk you through the calibration process. Expect this to take a few minutes. Color Management Overview - 3

4 It is helpful to name your profile to remind you of the lighting environment in which it was created. You can create and then select different profiles for different lighting conditions (time of day, location, etc.) Monitor Calibration Macintosh Platform Go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu or in your dock) Choose Displays (in the Hardware row) Next click the Color tab Color Management Overview - 4

5 You will see a list of Display Profiles (once you have created profiles you can switch between them here). Click the Calibrate button on the lower right Color Management Overview - 5

6 You will be taken through the process step-by-step. Expect it to take a few minutes as you fine-tune the settings. In the final step you will be asked to name your new monitor profile. It is helpful to name your profile to remind you of the lighting environment in which it was created (time of day, location, etc) so that you can later easily switch profiles to suit your viewing environment. For Further Information Here are some useful starting-points for further information on color management: Wikipedia explanation of color management Color Management and Windows: An Introduction ColorSync Apple s Built-in Color Management System International Color Consortium ( The purpose of the ICC is to promote the use and adoption of open, vendor-neutral, cross-platform color management systems. ) Color Management Overview - 6