Do you use a calibrated monitor while doing PP?

[xwing76]

Ever since I bought a color calibrator, I normally PP my pics with it on and set to neutral. My problem now is that my pics looks great on my monitor but when I posted my pics online and use a different PC it doesn't look as vibrant and the colors looked different.

Since I think most ppl doesn't calibrate their monitor. Is it better not calibrate the monitor while doing PP?

[alvyalvy]

Did you work with AdobeRGB colorspace and save as sRGB? If u want to do web publishing or even printing at normal photo studio I think you should finally save your works to sRGB or the color will look very off. I dun think there is anything wrong with having a calibrated monitor. Working with an accurate platform will ensure your workflow from PP to printing to be consistent, assuming ur own photo printer is also calibrated.bring ur monitor calibrating equipment and calibrate/profile ur frens' monitors.

[changster]

this is a problem that will not be overcome at the present state of things. saving your pictures in srgb is the best option, but bear in mind that the monitors of other viewers will not display the pics the exact same way as yours. also, most people use IE and firefox, which in my knowledge, are not colour-managed. with so many variables, it is almost impossible to replicate what's on your screen on the screens of others.

having a colour-managed workflow is only useful if you have control of the process from start to finish. if you lose control at any stage, then there is no guarantee that others will see the pics you want them to.

[xwing76]

Originally Posted by alvyalvy Did you work with AdobeRGB colorspace and save as sRGB? If u want to do web publishing or even printing at normal photo studio I think you should finally save your works to sRGB or the color will look very off. I dun think there is anything wrong with having a calibrated monitor. Working with an accurate platform will ensure your workflow from PP to printing to be consistent, assuming ur own photo printer is also calibrated.bring ur monitor calibrating equipment and calibrate/profile ur frens' monitors.

Ei Thanks for your reply! Yup I do use both AdobeRGB and save it using sRGB..

Originally Posted by changster this is a problem that will not be overcome at the present state of things. saving your pictures in srgb is the best option, but bear in mind that the monitors of other viewers will not display the pics th not colour-managed. with so many variables, it is almost impossible to replicate what's on your screen on the screens of others. having a colour-managed workflow is only useful if you have control of the process from start to finish. if you lose control at any stage, then there is no guarantee that others will see the pics you want them to.

Thanks for your reply!! Yea true its almost impossible...

Hmm.. interesting but how can you keep control on it?

[changster]

what i mean by control is that you your workflow remain colour managed at every stage. for instance, after you calibrated your monitor, the calibration software will generate a profile that you will have to select while working in photoshop. also, if you are doing printing at home, you will need either the factory profile for that particular printer or create one yourself by printing a test chart and then scanning it using a calibrator (some models can calibrate both monitors and printers. gretag-macbeth got one model i think). once that is done, make sure you 'soft-proof' as you are editing your photo in photoshop by selecting the printer profile under 'view' > 'proof setup' > 'custom'. basically what soft-proofing does is match the look of your photo on the screen with what eventually will be printed.

if you are talking about the web as the only place where your photos are to be displayed, it is simply best to upload in srgb colour mode and cross your fingers, unless you want to get professionals build specific profiles for all the various browsers that people who view your work use. you also can't go personally calibrate everyone's monitors. it is unavoidable thus that your photos, when seen on your screen, will not be what others see on theirs. most people, even the minority who are photographers, do not bother with colour-management and that is what i mean when i say colour-management will not work unless you have control of every single step - in this case that of people's hardware and mindsets.

[JamesW]

Try to keep your contrast, gamma etc as neutral as possible. Many manufacturers' default are nothing neutral, which while impressive for personal use, are anything but accurate for photo editing use.