Editing on a calibrated monitor

Jesse17 · Apr 3, 2016

What good does a color calibrated monitor do if no one else has one?

I shared a sunrise photo where the foreground was nearly black on my calibrated screen. I even increased the exposure at one point to see if it would look better if you could see the foreground. I posted the original photo with the black foreground and got a comment that they would prefer the foreground to be black... So I viewed it on my laptop monitor instead of my calibrated screen, and the foreground looks more like the version where I increased the exposure, where you can see the foreground.

Am I limited to only having other photographers with calibrated screens, liking my pictures? Why did I spend all this money on a decent monitor if pictures only look good on other calibrated monitors?

480sparky · Apr 3, 2016

Don't get too concerned with those who don't calibrate their monitors. There's nothing you can do about them.

You calibrate your monitor so you have better control over how your images are displayed there, as well as how they are printed.

pixmedic · Apr 3, 2016

480sparky said:
Don't get too concerned with those who don't calibrate their monitors. There's nothing you can do about them.

You calibrate your monitor so you have better control over how your images are displayed there, as well as how they are printed.

this^^

Ysarex · Apr 3, 2016

Your lament would be more meaningful if all the non-calibrated monitors out there in the hands of the unwashed masses were all non-calibrated the same. Then you could adjust your photos for them if you wanted. But that's not the case. They're not all non-calibrated the same, they're all over the place.

Joe

table1349 · Apr 3, 2016

pixmedic said:
480sparky said:

Don't get too concerned with those who don't calibrate their monitors. There's nothing you can do about them.

You calibrate your monitor so you have better control over how your images are displayed there, as well as how they are printed.

Click to expand...

this^^

This this^^

Jesse17 · Apr 3, 2016

Ysarex said:
Your lament would be more meaningful if all the non-calibrated monitors out there in the hands of the unwashed masses were all non-calibrated the same. Then you could adjust your photos for them if you wanted. But that's not the case. They're not all non-calibrated the same, they're all over the place.

Joe

Yeah, I guess that's really the issue isn't it? Just quite frustrating to put your work out there and have half the people think it looks like crap because they're not seeing it correctly.

Maybe I'll just post a message "This is a really good picture of a sunset, in order to control the perceived quality, I don't post pictures. Please PM your address and I'll mail you a print to view." Then hope it doesn't get shared a lot, because that could get expensive. LOL!

Ysarex · Apr 3, 2016

Jesse17 said:
Ysarex said:

Your lament would be more meaningful if all the non-calibrated monitors out there in the hands of the unwashed masses were all non-calibrated the same. Then you could adjust your photos for them if you wanted. But that's not the case. They're not all non-calibrated the same, they're all over the place.

Joe

Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess that's really the issue isn't it? Just quite frustrating to put your work out there and have half the people think it looks like crap because they're not seeing it correctly.

Maybe I'll just post a message "This is a really good picture of a sunset, in order to control the perceived quality, I don't post pictures. Please PM your address and I'll mail you a print to view." Then hope it doesn't get shared a lot, because that could get expensive. LOL!

Like Sparky said -- nothing you can do about them. So get your monitor calibrated and keep it that way. You win in the long run.

Joe

480sparky · Apr 3, 2016

Ysarex said:
Like Sparky said -- nothing you can do about them. So get your monitor calibrated and keep it that way. You win in the long run.

Joe

And as for everyone else, oh well.... they lose.

snowbear · Apr 3, 2016

Or educate those people about calibrating, even the basic built-in methods. I bet a lot of computer users have not even heard of it.

spiralout462 · Apr 3, 2016

I calibrate for the final prints sake. I am not concerned how my pics look on the screens of others. Most of them are probably viewing them on a cellphone anyway.

Jesse17 · Apr 3, 2016

Just for entertainment value, here's a cellphone pic showing the difference between the laptop (bottom) and calibrated monitor (top). The resolution get's all weird using it at my desktop photo and displaying both screens at the same time, but you can still see the difference in color, even when viewing this pic on the laptop screen. LOL.

12967344_833038386823816_6343215354542185620_o1_zpspvth0mqu.jpg

Ysarex · Apr 3, 2016

I think you may have more than just a calibration discrepancy in play there. Looks like you may also have a problem with the photo's ICC profile causing trouble. Your photo for use on the internet should be saved using the sRGB color space and that ICC tag needs to stay attached to the file when it's uploaded.

Joe

Jesse17 · Apr 3, 2016

It was exported from LR in sRGB. I assumed LR adds that info to the file when it exports it. Is there something I should do or check to make sure?

Ysarex · Apr 3, 2016

Jesse17 said:
It was exported from LR in sRGB. I assumed LR adds that info to the file when it exports it. Is there something I should do or check to make sure?

Post the photo here and we can check it for you. LR uses the ProPhoto color space for all editing and then yes, when you export to a TIFF or JPEG you have to assign a conversion color space -- sRGB if it's going to the internet.

The discrepancy you show seems extreme to just be monitor calibration.

Joe