Color Management is expensive!

[GenoS]

I'm an amateur photographer who would like to begin selling my work in the art market. I am very concerned with color and getting it right through proper color management so I have been studying up on it and have gained a decent grasp on how it all works.

The problem I have is that it seems to achieve accurate color management I am going to have to invest in an expensive monitor and monitor calibrating equipment. I currently have an ASUS UX51VZA. It's a good laptop but I don't think the monitor is up to the task of color management.

So what do other photographers do in this situation? I doubt everyone can afford this equipment right off the bat. Labs just take what you give them and print it out, so it has to be right in the first place. I wonder if there are places one can go to rent time on a calibrated system or something, that is the only solution I can think of.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[idcanyon]

Expensive monitors with perfect color rendition might be important for commercial work where the color of things has to be validated. Think clothing catalogs where you have to display the color of clothes and if you get it wrong you'll get lots of returned products. For artistic purposes color is fairly subjective and there is a lot more flexibility. So relax.

Your laptop is probably fine. I'd start with a little trial and error. Make some prints with your favorite lab. Most people will find that the color is fine and the only issue (if any) is brightness. Screens are often too bright, causing us to edit our pictures darker, causing them to print dark. With a little trial and error you can adjust your screen, just know you need to brighten your pictures a little, or get a cheap calibration tool to help.

 

[GenoS]

Great advice, thanks!

Quick question about color profiles, do they affect the color of every program the monitor displays, or just image editing software?

 

[idcanyon]

Everything the monitor displays.

 

[jsecordphoto]

Expensive monitors with perfect color rendition might be important for commercial work where the color of things has to be validated. Think clothing catalogs where you have to display the color of clothes and if you get it wrong you'll get lots of returned products. For artistic purposes color is fairly subjective and there is a lot more flexibility. So relax.

Your laptop is probably fine. I'd start with a little trial and error. Make some prints with your favorite lab. Most people will find that the color is fine and the only issue (if any) is brightness. Screens are often too bright, causing us to edit our pictures darker, causing them to print dark. With a little trial and error you can adjust your screen, just know you need to brighten your pictures a little, or get a cheap calibration tool to help.

Wait til you have customers complaining that the color and brightness of the prints they purchased look different than on your website and you'll change your tune pretty quickly. It definitely is a big deal (if you take any pride in your work), and a total pain in the ass replacing prints for customers that aren't satisfied after dropping a couple hundred dollars on a print.

Most laptops aren't capable of displaying even 100% of sRGB, and an external monitor isn't really that expensive along with a calibration tool. Printing is just as much of an art as actually shooting the photos, and once you introduce people spending money for prints they (rightfully) expect to be perfect, it's worth spending some time and money to do it correctly.

 

[Ysarex]

Everything the monitor displays.

The OP is using a Window's system so "Everything the monitor displays", is not correct.

 

[idcanyon]

jsecordphoto, I both agree with you and stand by my recommendation to start with some trial and error. So I'll offer what I see as a reasonable way forward.

In the beginning you need to make test prints even if you have the best color management system out there. For an online print sale sent directly from your printer to the client then you'd better do this ahead of time before you ever offer the print for sale. Same thing if you are delivering the print in person on a very tight schedule. If you are delivering the print yourself and have a little flexibility then you can check quality and reprint as needed. Your results will teach you what to do next. If you gain confidence in your color management system then you can quit making test prints. If test prints are becoming a burden then you need to upgrade your system.

For online sales, no matter how good your system is there is still a risk of a color rendition complaint. Your clients are probably viewing your images on an uncalibrated laptop screen.

And yes, I agree that an external monitor, even a cheap one, is valuable, and probably should be your first purchase, followed by a calibration tool. These two things will get you close enough most of the time.

 

[Ysarex]

Great advice, thanks!

Quick question about color profiles, do they affect the color of every program the monitor displays, or just image editing software?

In a color managed workflow you have (device dependent) camera, monitor, and printer ICC profiles, as well as (device independent) color space ICC profiles. I'm guessing your question is probably referring to the color space profiles that should be associated with image files.

In the Windows OS it's left up to the app to properly read and apply the color space profiles attached to image files. Most apps do but some don't. Those that don't will display an image's color incorrectly. A further complication is that some apps will process the color space profile but fail to account for the monitor profile. This will also cause the image's color to display incorrectly. To get it right the app has to process both the color space profile and the monitor profile.

To implement a color managed workflow does cost some $$$, but it's ultimately worth it and maybe not be as bad as you think. I spend a lot of time with cash-strapped students who certainly struggle to pull this altogether. The first place to start is only $79.00: NeweggBusiness - X-Rite ColorMunki Smile Get it on your Xmas list. Yes, you'll eventually need a better monitor but at least take the first step and start getting in the habit of calibrating what you have -- it'll help. An external monitor in the 24-27 inch range that's an IPS or PVA panel of good quality can be had now for under $200.00 (next Xmas). It's not the best there is but it'll make a world of difference over the laptop display.
Joe

 

[idcanyon]

The OP is using a Window's system so "Everything the monitor displays", is not correct.

I won't claim there are no weird special cases, but in general monitor calibration using a ColorMunki Smile or similar will affect everything you see on the screen, not just Photoshop or whatever. I think that is what he or she was asking.

 

[Ysarex]

The OP is using a Window's system so "Everything the monitor displays", is not correct.

I won't claim there are no weird special cases, but in general monitor calibration using a ColorMunki Smile or similar will affect everything you see on the screen, not just Photoshop or whatever. I think that is what he or she was asking.

I'm not sure that's what the OP was asking, but regardless you're still wrong. When a monitor is calibrated two discretely different processes are accomplished. The monitor is physically altered (brighter/dimmer, contrast change, white point change) and that will of course alter everything that is displayed. The 2nd task in calibrating a monitor is to generate a device ICC profile for the monitor (the OP did ask specifically about color profiles). The ColorMunki Smile for example will do this -- the monitor's performance is characterized. In the Windows OS it's then up to the app to correctly use that monitor ICC profile. Many Windows apps do not do this and as a result images are displayed with false color in those apps. Examples would be Internet Explorer, MS Edge, MS Photos -- wouldn't call those weird special cases.

Joe

 

[The_Traveler]

Before you go completely overboard on color management you ought to ask around about how many people actually make money selling their work off their web site.

 

[idcanyon]

but regardless you're still wrong.

I just tried this...I have two screens. My secondary had very bad color before it was profiled. Everything looked different between the two screens. After calibration everything looks essentially the same. That makes this very easy to test. I open Internet Explorer to a photo on my website and place it on that second screen. I go into the Color Management dialog, select that screen, and uncheck "Use my settings for this device". It instantly quits using my custom calibrated profile. Internet Explorer, my photo, and everything else on that screen immediately looks crappy--too bright, really yellow. This is on Win7.

We must be talking about different things. You make it sounds like buying a calibration tool is of little value because it will only affect a few programs.

 

[jsecordphoto]

Before you go completely overboard on color management you ought to ask around about how many people actually make money selling their work off their web site.

since you brought it up, I made just under $2k last month through my site, one of my better months though.

 

[Ysarex]

but regardless you're still wrong.

I just tried this...I have two screens. My secondary had very bad color before it was profiled. Everything looked different between the two screens. After calibration everything looks essentially the same. That makes this very easy to test. I open Internet Explorer to a photo on my website and place it on that second screen. I go into the Color Management dialog, select that screen, and uncheck "Use my settings for this device". It instantly quits using my custom calibrated profile. Internet Explorer, my photo, and everything else on that screen immediately looks crappy--too bright, really yellow. This is on Win7.

We must be talking about different things. You make it sounds like buying a calibration tool is of little value because it will only affect a few programs.

Here's a reference to what I'm talking about: WEB BROWSER COLOR MANAGEMENT Tutorial - Test Page FireFox Safari Chrome Internet Explorer IE 10- FILES have embedded ICC profiles Photoshop ColorManagement

In Windows it's up to the app to display an image and properly apply the monitor profile as well as the image tagged color space profile. There are Windows apps (Microsoft Windows apps) that don't do this correctly and as a result photos are incorrectly displayed.

The test you need to run is explained in the link provided to Gary Ballard's webpage above. Gary's assessment and explanation are correct.

Joe

 

[GenoS]

Thanks everyone very much for your input and advice. Any recommendations on a good inexpensive external monitor? Also, I have a Spyder2pro available to me for calibration, any thoughts on that tool?