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09/05/2003 06:55:58 AM · #1 |
If you have not calibrated your monitor, then you really, truly, for
sure ought to do so.While this is just the first of many steps you
can take to move into a fully color managed workflow, your monitor
ought to be calibrated even if you don¡¯t want to do much
more. Calibrating your monitor is the one thing that needs to be
done to ensure that you are reaping the benefits from your investment in
equipment, time, and effort. It is straightforward and will take you less than ten minutes at most. To calibrate your monitor, we use Adobe Gamma, which is a utility that has two important functions. First, it helps you to calibrate or adjust your monitor so that you can see the most accurate colors it is capable of displaying. Secondly, it creates a color profile that is used by Photoshop 7 and your PC¡¯s operating system to help display colors correctly. Both of these are very worthwhile functions providing that you take time to do them as
well as possible.
If you want even more accuracy, then you may want to consider buying additional products that are far more accurate. You can find software only monitor calibration tools, and software/hardware combinations
such as the ColorVision LCD/CRT Spyder and either their PhotoCal or OptiCal software. Depending on your requirements, your hardware,
and possibly some luck, you can do a pretty good job of calibrating your monitor with Adobe Gamma. The Adobe Gamma tool can be a particularly useful tool for some people as they seem to have a knack for getting good settings each time. So, try this technique first¡ªthen if you aren¡¯t happy with your results, do some research on current monitor calibration applications and hardware and try one of them.
STEP 1: GETTING READY TO CALIBRATE YOUR MONITOR:
The success you have using Adobe Gamma is extremely dependent on lighting conditions. If you have direct sunlight from a nearby window or are wearing a white or bright colored shirt that is reflecting
color or white light onto your monitor, you may as well not take the time to use Adobe Gamma. The best environment to calibrate your monitor and to make critical color adjustments is one with subdued
light. As I work in a home office with nearly floor-toceiling glass on three of the four walls, I use a hooded monitor; I wear black or dark shirts when working, and I do most critical color correction early in the morning, in late evening, or the dark hours of the night (all Photoshop book authors know these hours all too well). Viewing the Adobe Gamma utility against a medium gray desktop also helps.
If you are using Windows, right-click on your desktop and choose Properties to get the Display Properties dialog box. Click the Desktop tab and choose the medium gray color by clicking the Color box at the bottom right of the dialog box. Click OK to apply the setting.
Your monitor should have been on for an hour or more before using Adobe Gamma. Monitor colors take awhile to stabilize after a monitor has been
turned on. Also, monitor colors can drift over time. Depending on your monitor and how often it is used, you may want to run Adobe Gamma every few months to ensure that the profiles match its current
display characteristics.
STEP 2: OPEN FILE:
Before opening Adobe Gamma, I suggest that you open a digital photo in Photoshop 7 to use as a reality check.When you get to Step 10, you have an option to switch back and forth between before and after settings.
If you already have a digital photo open, you¡¯ll be able to more clearly see if you have improved your settings.
Choose File ➢ Open (Ctrl+O) to get the
Open dialog box. Double-click the \05 folder to open it and then click the sample-photos.jpg file to select it. Click Open to open the file.
Double-click the image window title bar to maximize the document window. Then click the bottom-right-hand corner of the Photoshop 7
application window and drag it up to the left to make the application window about one-quarter of the size of your desktop. Then drag the
Photoshop 7 application window to the upper-left of your desktop where it is out of the way of the small Adobe Gamma dialog box, which you open
in Step 3.
STEP 3: LAUNCH ADOBE GAMMA
Adobe Gamma is a simple utility that can either be
completed using a single dialog box or a Wizard that displays each of the nine steps in nine separate dialog boxes. Either way, the whole process of adjusting your monitor can take less than a few minutes after you do it a few times.
As Adobe Gamma gets installed in the Control Panel during the installation of Photoshop 7, you launch it by double-clicking the Adobe Gamma icon after opening the Control Panel.
After launching Adobe Gamma, you get the dialog box . I suggest that you use the Step By Step wizard, which is the default selection. Click Next to confirm selection.
STEP 4: NAME NEW PROFILE NAME:
While it appears that you are simply naming the new profile that you are creating in this step, in fact, you are selecting the profile that is used as the starting point for your calibrations, too! Therefore, selecting the best profile for your monitor is important, if possible.
In theory, it may be possible to select an incorrect profile that simply will not allow you to properly calibrate your monitor. This initial profile is selected differently based upon your operating system and whether you are using a Mac or PC. In many cases, the initial profile won¡¯t be the best choice. Selecting and loading a profile yourself is the best approach.
STEP 5: ADJUST MONITOR¡¯S CONTRAST AND BRIGHTNESS:
Click Next to display the dialog box. Set your monitor¡¯s contrast to the highest setting¡ªusually 100%. Then, use the brightness control to make adjustments until the center box is as dark as possible, but not quite black, while keeping the frame white.
STEP 6: SELECT PHOSPHOR TYPE:
Click Next to get the dialog box. Read the documentation you got with
your monitor to determine the correct setting to use for Phosphors type is best. If you can¡¯t ascertain the kind of phosphor that your
monitor has, then look to see if you can see light gray lines running horizontally across your monitor¡ª one approximately 1⁄4 of the way down from the top and one 1⁄4 of the way up from the bottom. If you see
these lines, use the Trinitron setting. If you don¡¯t have a Trinitron, odds are good that you will have good results using the P22-EBU setting as these two vendors manufacture the vast majority of monitors and
these are the settings for those vendors.
STEP 7: ADJUST RGB GAMMA:
Click Next and uncheck the box next to View Single Gamma Only. The dialog box should now have a red, green, and blue box, allowing you to adjust each color independently. The goal here is to adjust each of the
three sliders so that the center box fades into the patterned frame, thereby removing any color imbalance in the monitor.
While it seems easy, it takes some practice especially
with the green, which seems a little more difficult than the other two. If you squint your eyes and turn your head slightly, you should be able to repeatedly set each of the three sliders in the same position each time. Adjusting does take practice, so try it a few times for each color until you have some confidence that you are setting them correctly. If you are way off, you¡¯ll know it and you can have another go at it! Sometimes looking away from the screen then back helps, too.
If you are using Windows, set Gamma to Windows Default and the value of 2.2 will be displayed.Mac users should choose Macintosh Default and use the value of 1.8.
STEP 8: SELECT HARDWARE WHITE POINT:
Click Next to get the dialog box. Adobe Gamma usually sets this setting correctly itself. If your monitor allows hardware white-point settings (usually accessed via an onscreen menu controlled from buttons at the bottom of the display), then check to see that this setting matches the setting of your monitor.
STEP 9: CHOOSE ADJUSTED WHITE POINT
Click Next to get the dialog box. In most cases, you simply want to leave the Adjusted White Point Setting to Same as
Hardware.
STEP 10: COMPARE BEFORE AND AFTER RESULTS
Click Next to get the dialog box. As you click the Before or After box, you can see the difference between the settings you had before you began using Adobe Gamma and the settings that you just selected. Should
these before and after previews indicate that your settings are worse than they were before you began, click Back until you get to the settings you need. Keep trying until you have the best settings
you can get.Viewing the image you opened in Step 2 can help you to see the differences between before and after settings.
STEP 11: SAVE NEW PROFILE:
After you are satisfied with the results, click Finish to get the Save As dialog box.You then are prompted to type in a name for the profile that you just created. I suggest you use a name that is
similar to the original file name you started with, but add your initials and a date. That way, you can recognize that it is a file that you created from a default file, and you can see the date so that you
know when you created it. Click Save to save the file and close Adobe Gamma. Your monitor should now be calibrated and you have created a monitor profile.
I hoped this helped sombody. I did it and couldnt belive the diffrence. If you have windows XP. Go to your control panal and click classic view and you should find adobe gamma setting there.
Thanks, and try this out. Aubrey
Message edited by author 2003-09-05 07:02:57.
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12/09/2003 06:29:07 PM · #2 |
Thanks very much by your recipe to calibrate monitors.
I visited am interesting site that people interested in printing and color calibration techs and charts will love: //www.aim-dtp.net
They have a lot of interesting charts to caliper your hardware and a lot of material related too, as texts explaining many things about color and printing fidelity.
But I had a question: How can I find the Adobe Gamma Software? It is included with other Adobe softwares, a quick sorch in Adobe´s download page had no sucess.
Please if anyone know where Adobe Gamma lives... tell me!
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12/09/2003 07:07:50 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by GoodEnd:
Thanks very much by your recipe to calibrate monitors.
I visited am interesting site that people interested in printing and color calibration techs and charts will love: //www.aim-dtp.net
They have a lot of interesting charts to caliper your hardware and a lot of material related too, as texts explaining many things about color and printing fidelity.
But I had a question: How can I find the Adobe Gamma Software? It is included with other Adobe softwares, a quick sorch in Adobe´s download page had no sucess.
Please if anyone know where Adobe Gamma lives... tell me! |
Marcos,
Nao sei bem esse negocio de Adobe Gamma. Mas e bom ver uns fotograficos brasileiros aqui!
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12/09/2003 07:32:20 PM · #4 |
Does Photoshop CS have this Adobe Gamma...?
Melissa |
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12/09/2003 08:16:48 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by StevePax:
Marcos,
Nao sei bem esse negocio de Adobe Gamma. Mas e bom ver uns fotograficos brasileiros aqui! |
E' pa, eu nao sabia que voce falava portugues! Nao sei bem escrever (as you can see ;) ), mas eu poco ler e falar.
Message edited by author 2003-12-09 20:31:15. |
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12/10/2003 02:06:23 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Brunosmad:
Originally posted by StevePax:
Marcos,
Nao sei bem esse negocio de Adobe Gamma. Mas e bom ver uns fotograficos brasileiros aqui! |
E' pa, eu nao sabia que voce falava portugues! Nao sei bem escrever (as you can see ;) ), mas eu poco ler e falar. |
É isso ai pessoal, o DPC é o melhor site para quem gosta de treinar fotografia. A comunidade é ótima!
In English now: DPC is the best site to anyone that likes to exercise your photographic skills. The community is very coll!
But... someone know something about the Adobe Gamma???
Message edited by author 2003-12-10 14:07:25. |
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12/11/2003 01:59:48 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by GoodEnd:
someone know something about the Adobe Gamma??? |
If you have Photoshop it should have installed along with it. Go to Settings/Control Panel and Adobe Gamma should be in there....
Now it's my turn to ask a question. I was getting ready to calibrate a week or so ago, and when I clicked on Adobe Gamma in the Control Panel, I got "an error occurred while Windows was working with the Control Panel file C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma.cpl". I got this same error if I tried to open the file directly from the Common Files folder. I searched the web to try to find an answer, no luck. Adobe's site doesn't even seem to cover this problem. I reinstalled Photoshop 7 and still get the same result. Any suggestions?
Andi
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12/11/2003 02:18:49 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by ahaze:
"an error occurred while Windows was working with the Control Panel file C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma.cpl". I got this same error if I tried to open the file directly from the Common Files folder. I searched the web to try to find an answer, no luck. Adobe's site doesn't even seem to cover this problem. I reinstalled Photoshop 7 and still get the same result. Any suggestions? |
Apparently there are a few people having the same problem. Here is one example of somebody with the same problem. All of the TS advice here is good. I would try the video driver solution first.
//www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?128@180.BQvgboJNLF4.3@.2ccdb9de
I've found in general the Adobe forums are much more useful than the official sources of Adobe help. Oddly enough, Adobe does have employees that frequent the forum so you, sort of, get official help as well as help from knowledgeable users. |
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12/11/2003 02:39:43 PM · #9 |
Thank you TechnoShroom- I will try that!!
Andi
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12/12/2003 08:38:31 AM · #10 |
TechnoShroom, I updated my video card driver, no luck. Then I removed the updated monitor driver that I'd installed a few days ago and went back to the generic PnP monitor driver from Microsoft, and now Adobe Gamma works. Weird. But either way, I have you to thank- so thank you!
Andi
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12/13/2003 01:59:05 AM · #11 |
I have three Samsung 191t monitors connected to a Matrox Parahelia 512 video card. I am trying to calibrate the monitors with the other monitors. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with calibrating several monitors on the same system? Is there any company that makes software for multi-monitor calibration?
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12/13/2003 02:21:59 AM · #12 |
| Darth.. I have two monitors and unlike you they are not identical. My experience is that I must calibrate them seperately. Adobe Gamma instructs me to just run the program on the monitor you want to calibrate. It should be easy to calibrate your monitors in a identical way, but you will have to run the program on each monitor and input identical settings for each one. |
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12/13/2003 05:40:35 AM · #13 |
| is it just me, or after calibrating your monitor do you feel a bit weird? apparently my monitor is at 9300K right now, which is very 'cool'.. but when i change to the suggested 6500K that i've heard around, it appears yellowish.. is it just cuz i'm not used to it? |
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12/13/2003 07:40:36 AM · #14 |
9300k is at the cooler end of the spectrum while 6500k is towards the warmer end - hence 9300k will be more cool or blue while 6500k will be warmer colour
mike
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12/13/2003 08:09:54 AM · #15 |
| i wonder - i'm getting conflicting points. the site that someone posted recently (normankoren.com) tells me to set my brightness to one setting (according to an image on the site), while adobe gamma is asking me to set it much darker.. not sure what to do :( |
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12/13/2003 01:27:43 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by brianlh:
.. not sure what to do :( |
Set it according to the way described in the site GoodEnd mentioned. Allow your monitor to warm up and decrease your desktop size so you can see the non-scanned area. Set your desktop color to black and then adjust brightness until you can just barely make out the difference. Then you can run Adobe Gamma and just ignore their black point adjustment all together. |
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12/13/2003 08:41:57 PM · #17 |
Aubrey,
Worked Great. Thanks!
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12/14/2003 03:32:02 AM · #18 |
| Thanks for the info. Away from my personal computer for the next few weeks, so will have to hold off on modifying any more monitor settings for now :-x |
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01/26/2004 01:44:28 PM · #19 |
Is there a way to return the color settings to the computer prior to adjusting with adobe gamma? I already compared the before and after.... but clicked accept, and am now realizing that i would like to redo it.
Any advice? |
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01/26/2004 02:02:55 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by sas0661:
Is there a way to return the color settings to the computer prior to adjusting with adobe gamma? I already compared the before and after.... but clicked accept, and am now realizing that i would like to redo it.
Any advice? |
In monitor settings, color management tab (guess you are using Windows), remove the color profile you change/create with Adobe Gamma, or Choose a default color space like sRGB. |
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01/26/2004 02:24:26 PM · #21 |
Well I removed all the color management profiles and added "sRGB Color Space Profile", set as default, and applied the change.
nothing changed... the screen is so light that the edges of unactive windows will bleed white into other white windows.
If you want to talk to me elsewhere as not to waste bandwidth, i would kindly appreciate it
Edit- er rather... if you dont want to use bandwidth here, we can talk elsewhere... either one; i would greatly appreciate it :)
Message edited by author 2004-01-26 14:25:21. |
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01/28/2004 09:38:42 AM · #22 |
Hi Sebastian;
Try to run Adobe Gamma again. When it asks you for Base Color Profile, choose sRGB, and go to next fase without changes until the end of process. I my computer when I remove color profile, or change it to other I can saw diferences. But Adobe Gamma runs direct with your hardware in many cases this mean diferent hardware has diferent behavior.
I had no trouble with bandwidth, but if you want, can contact me, by e-mail and private message (at DPC profile).
Message edited by author 2004-01-28 09:57:25. |
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01/28/2004 09:47:06 AM · #23 |
| Good effort, many people probably don't think enough about calibration |
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01/28/2004 10:13:38 PM · #24 |
Hey im back...
I had a dilemma with my operating system, it dediced to corrupt some important files!
Anyways, I have a nice FRESH start now... I recently got your email, thanks a lot! Im not even sure I need to recalibrate my monitor... the colors are quite vivid.
How do I know for sure, just try it (and this time.. dont hit accept unless i like it ;) or should i compare some pictures? I vaguely remember seeing a long block of white and black squares when I was calibrating it last time. I was told I should be able to see the difference between the first three, and last three... and the only case where I could see the difference was the time where I was unhappy with the color profile I created. |
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01/28/2004 10:15:49 PM · #25 |
whre can I get adobe gamma?
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