| Color management is a broad term for getting good accurate color in your final printed image. |
There are books, big thick books, on this topic. What I recommend for those photographers beginning
their digital journey is to plan on working with a lab for their final prints. The lab can be local such as
Flair or an online lab such as Mpix.com or any one of the many online labs. It is also possible to
upload to Flair at www.showprints.com and go to pick up your prints.
This process, like all the others, begins in the camera. The term "white balance" is the digital
equivalent of films that you use for situations such as daylight or flash, etc. Only now with the
freedom of digital capture you can easily switch from a daylight situation to cloudy or an "under the
lights" situation just by changing your white balance in your camera.
If you use JPG capture it is very important to set the right "white balance." Including doing a custom
white balance. Your camera manual should tell you how.
Many professional studio photographers use a "target" that has a white strip, 18% grey, and a black
strip for accurate and consistent color. You can learn more at www.photovisionvideo.com.
If you use RAW capture, it is fine to change the white balance in post production, but I highly
recommend that setting the white balance for consistent or uniform colors is a good habit. My camera
is quite accurate with auto white balance for outdoor shots. The sunlight does come and go, so, because
I take RAW and the white balance can be changed in post production, it works for me. For indoor I
use the right white balance for the situation.
their digital journey is to plan on working with a lab for their final prints. The lab can be local such as
Flair or an online lab such as Mpix.com or any one of the many online labs. It is also possible to
upload to Flair at www.showprints.com and go to pick up your prints.
This process, like all the others, begins in the camera. The term "white balance" is the digital
equivalent of films that you use for situations such as daylight or flash, etc. Only now with the
freedom of digital capture you can easily switch from a daylight situation to cloudy or an "under the
lights" situation just by changing your white balance in your camera.
If you use JPG capture it is very important to set the right "white balance." Including doing a custom
white balance. Your camera manual should tell you how.
Many professional studio photographers use a "target" that has a white strip, 18% grey, and a black
strip for accurate and consistent color. You can learn more at www.photovisionvideo.com.
If you use RAW capture, it is fine to change the white balance in post production, but I highly
recommend that setting the white balance for consistent or uniform colors is a good habit. My camera
is quite accurate with auto white balance for outdoor shots. The sunlight does come and go, so, because
I take RAW and the white balance can be changed in post production, it works for me. For indoor I
use the right white balance for the situation.
Next step: Your images have been captured correctly, and you have archived them safely, so now you
want to see what they look like! Looking at them on your monitor you can see many things that could
not be seen in the camera's screen. You can see if the image is "soft" or not sharp enough, you can see
that the composition is good or not so good, you can see that the image is excitingly good, you can see
that the image is a disappointment... Can you see if the colors are "real?" How do you know? Your
eyes can trick you. The monitor can trick you... If you decide to play in any way with the colors, the
resulting print can be a real disappointment. And a costly disappointment even and most especially if
you are printing your own. You must have a calibrated monitor, unless you just like taking your time
and money and throwing it out.
There are many different ways and products to calibrate monitors. Also all prices. In class we will
discuss the easiest ways to do this. The monitors are calibrated to an ICC standard. Stands for
International Color Consortium. Look at the web site www.color.org for more information (maybe too
much).
want to see what they look like! Looking at them on your monitor you can see many things that could
not be seen in the camera's screen. You can see if the image is "soft" or not sharp enough, you can see
that the composition is good or not so good, you can see that the image is excitingly good, you can see
that the image is a disappointment... Can you see if the colors are "real?" How do you know? Your
eyes can trick you. The monitor can trick you... If you decide to play in any way with the colors, the
resulting print can be a real disappointment. And a costly disappointment even and most especially if
you are printing your own. You must have a calibrated monitor, unless you just like taking your time
and money and throwing it out.
There are many different ways and products to calibrate monitors. Also all prices. In class we will
discuss the easiest ways to do this. The monitors are calibrated to an ICC standard. Stands for
International Color Consortium. Look at the web site www.color.org for more information (maybe too
much).
When you are ready to print your image, save it (master), and then duplicate it, flatten it, size it, and
then sharpen it and save it as a sharpened image for the size it is. It is a bad idea to open this file again
and size it down or up and send it to the printer again so I delete this file after I get the printed photo
back and compare the digital image and the printed image. Then any adjustments can be made to
better the image.
Now comes the process of working with your lab. With your calibrated monitor (ICC profiles) you are
seeing the colors that will translate well to the lab and you should do just fine.
then sharpen it and save it as a sharpened image for the size it is. It is a bad idea to open this file again
and size it down or up and send it to the printer again so I delete this file after I get the printed photo
back and compare the digital image and the printed image. Then any adjustments can be made to
better the image.
Now comes the process of working with your lab. With your calibrated monitor (ICC profiles) you are
seeing the colors that will translate well to the lab and you should do just fine.
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