Colour Management for (Amateur) Photographers

COLOUR MANAGEMENT FOR (AMATEUR) PHOTOGRAPHERS

BVCC March 2016 OVERVIEW

What is it?

Why do we need it?

How to do it? WHAT IS COLOUR MANAGEMENT?

Image Science deﬁnition

Colour Management is the process of controlling colour as it moves between devices - from the input end (cameras/scanners) to the output end (screens, projectors and printers).

For photographers, it’s about getting consistent and predictable results wherever our images are presented WHAT IS COLOUR MANAGEMENT?

Every piece of technology handles colour uniquely

We need to know the device- speciﬁc proﬁle to be able to control colour DIGITAL CAMERA

Sensor is monochrome

Coloured ﬁlters in front of the sensor creates coloured image

Colours captured depends on the tint of the ﬁlter

Every manufacturer uses different ﬁlters LCD / LED MONITOR

‘White’ backlight shines through a colour ﬁlter

Colours captured depends on the tint of the ﬁlter and the colour of the backlight

Every manufacturer uses different backlights and ﬁlters PRINTER

Printers

Colour is made by squirting tiny drops of ink onto paper

Colours captured depends on the dye in the ink, the colour of the paper, and the viewing conditions

Every manufacturer uses different inks, and papers

Different lighting will make print look different WHAT IS ‘WHITE’?

White is not a single colour

Different sources of light produce different versions of white - from cool blue to warm red

Sunlight is ‘fairly’ uniform; but man made light sources vary greatly

Huge variation even within one type of light

All of this affects how we see the colour in our images WHY IS COLOUR SO COMPLEX?

Because our visual system is very complex

We see colour relative to the other colours around it - this is why we are so easily deceived by optical illusion WHAT IS COLOUR MANAGEMENT?

Colour Management is the process of controlling colour as it moves between devices.

It is not possible to get 100% match across all devices; but we can get pretty close WHY DO WE NEED IT?

When we don’t control colour:

Your prints look too dark, or the colours aren’t quite right

You upload images uploaded to the web they look de-saturated when other people view them

You show a slideshow on a friends computer and it doesn’t look the same as on your computer (too dark, too bright, colour shift) DEMO HOW TO DO COLOUR MANAGEMENT

Some terminology

Monitors & calibration

Save for web and email

Printing TERMINOLOGY - COLOUR MODEL

A Colour Model is a way to describe colour that is more precise than English

Examples - RGB, CMYK, Lab

A colour model does not (usually) specify actual colours

For example RGB = 207,72,86 on its own is not a colour TERMINOLOGY - COLOUR SPACE

A Colour Space is a colour model that also speciﬁes the actual colours that can be represented

Examples - sRGB, AdobeRGB, Lab, Coated FOGRA39

A colour space speciﬁes actual colours

For example sRGB = 207,72,86 is a colour; but it is not the same colour as AdobeRGB = 207,72,86 TERMINOLOGY - COLOUR SPACE

These all have RGB = 207,72,86

sRGB Adobe RGB ProPhoto RGB TERMINOLOGY - GAMUT

Gamut is simply all of the colours within a Colour Space TERMINOLOGY - COLOUR PROFILE

A Colour Proﬁle is a colour space for a speciﬁc device (camera, monitor, printer, etc)

It deﬁnes the colours that a device can capture (camera, or scanner), or reproduce (monitor or printer)

Colour Proﬁles are what allow us to control colours as they move between devices TERMINOLOGY - WORKING SPACE

Working Space is the colour space you use when editing an image

If you use LightRoom it is always ProPhoto RGB. Other programs may let you choose what working space to use

Best to edit images in the largest colour space available, and then convert for web upload or printing YOUR MONITOR - BEST FRIEND OR WORST ENEMY!

Next to your camera, your monitor is the most important piece of equipment in photography

A poor monitor can be very hard to calibrate, so may not be very accurate

Quick test - tilt your monitor away and towards you. If the colours shift green one way and purple the other, get a new monitor.

A good monitor does not have to be super-expensive. Things to look for are wide viewing angle, and IPS technology YOUR MONITOR - NORMAL OR WIDE GAMUT

A ‘normal’ gamut monitor can usually display almost all of the colours from the sRGB colour space

Many screens today are ‘wide gamut’. These can usually display most if not all of the AdobeRGB colour space

A wide gamut monitor lets you see more of the colours in your images

Must be calibrated with a good calibration device, otherwise everything will look very very over-saturated

On Windows your desktop backgrounds may look very oversaturated on a wide gamut monitor YOUR MONITOR - BASIC SETUP

Many screens come from the shop with the brightness set way too high. If you need sunglasses to look at it, it’s too bright

Avoid strong lighting falling directly on the screen, especially with glossy screens. Try and avoid reﬂections as much as possible

Try and keep the lighting consistent in your work area. If you have direct sunlight during the day, and ﬂuorescent at night your images will look different depending on when you work on them

Don’t paint the walls bright purple! You might like vibrant colours in your decor but they can cast a tint on your monitor (and prints) YOUR MONITOR - MANUAL CALIBRATION

Calibrating by eye is better than not calibrating at all (unless you are colour blind)

In Windows 7, 8 & 10, there is a built in software calibration tool that is pretty decent

If you use a Mac and an Apple monitor then the screen is already calibrated (although it can be calibrated better) �

If you use a Mac and don’t use an Apple monitor you will probably need a hardware calibration device, the built in software calibration is not so good � YOUR MONITOR - MANUAL CALIBRATION FOR PRINTING

This is not really calibration, it’s a way to tweak your system so that you can get more consistent prints

Get a ‘test print’ image. There are plenty on the web, and some print companies make these available. Have the image printed; but don’t make any adjustments to how it looks on your screen. YOUR MONITOR - MANUAL CALIBRATION FOR PRINTING

Compare the print to the image on your screen. Adjust the screen brightness so that is matches the print as closely as possible.

This is actually hard - you need to view the print under good lighting; but the same light level is probably too bright for your viewing your monitor YOUR MONITOR - HARDWARE CALIBRATION

The best calibration is done using a colorimeter or spectrophotometer. This device measures the actual colour produced by the screen and builds an accurate proﬁle

Prices vary from less than $100 to $5000 or more.

A basic device can give good results (e.g Color Munki Smile); but a more advanced device will do a better job

The X-Rite i1 Display Pro is considered by many as the best choice for photographers - costs around $300

The Spyder 5 Pro also costs around $300 and is very good; although there have been reports of quality control issues DEMO SAVE FOR WEB OR EMAIL

Although we want to edit images in the largest colour space, when saving for web or to send to a friend we need to use something more universally accepted

Remember, many people still use old versions of Windows, and very few people calibrate their screens

The safest option is to always save as sRGB for images you are going to post on the web or send to friends

They may still display differently for other people; but this is the best option with todays technology PRINTING YOUR IMAGES

This is a huge topic. I am only going to cover this at a high level.

Using a print company

DIY

Comparing print to screen

Soft prooﬁng USING A PRINT COMPANY

Many companies produce great results; but quality control can be a problem (untrained operator, equipment maintenance, etc)

What colour space should you use when sending your images to the print company?

Many online resources and books say to use AdobeRGB

If you don’t use a wide gamut monitor you may not be seeing all the colours in the image. The prints may then look more saturated than the monitor

Ask the printer what they recommend (if they look at you with glazed eyes ﬁnd another printer)

Some print companies may also provide proﬁles for the printer and papers that they can print on. This is useful if you want to soft proof your images before sending them to the printer DIY PRINTING

Not as hard as it used to be, and does not need to be super expensive

I use a mid-range, 6 colour Epson 1430 A3 printer that cost around $400. A full set of 6 ink cartridges costs around $160

An 11x14 print on A3 premium semi-gloss Epson paper costs me around $8 - $10 to print (OfﬁceWorks charges $13.85)

The main disadvantage of my printer is only one black ink, so it is not as good for monochrome prints.

The new P800 is superb for mono with separate black, light black and light light black inks; but it costs over $1800.

Satisfaction of doing it yourself � DIY PRINTING

The key to getting good prints is getting good colour proﬁles

Epson provide downloadable proﬁles for their printers and paper. Canon also provide proﬁles for some of the major paper manufacturers (Canson, Hahnemuhle, etc)

May other paper manufacturers provide free proﬁles (e.g. Red River)

It’s important to get proﬁles for both the printer and the paper you are going to print on

It’s also important to get the settings correct when you print. Be sure to select the right proﬁle and paper, and turn off colour management in the printer DEMO COMPARING PRINT TO SCREEN

Ideal setup is a print viewing station; but this can be expensive.

Natural light on the print works well so long as it is not falling on the screen as well

A desk lamp with a neutral white bulb will also work for the print; but be careful. Many CFL lights have a signiﬁcant colour cast.

Good quality CFL bulbs will have the CRI (colour rendering index) marked on them - look for 90 or higher. SOFT PROOFING

Soft prooﬁng is trying to simulate on screen how a print will look on paper

Very useful for seeing how prints can lose contrast and vibrance

Very easy to do in Lightroom

BUT: you have to have proﬁles for your printer and paper for it to work effectively DEMO MORE INFORMATION

http://www.digitaldog.net/

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/color-management1.htm

http://www.imagescience.com.au/pages/Colour-Management.html

https://luminous-landscape.com/understanding-printer-colour-management/ QUESTIONS