Work area lighting and flash are equally important

In workspaces with fluorescent lamps at the top, industry-standard lighting tubes such as GretagMacbeth 5000 Kelvin bulbs should be used. Use this industry standard light bulb to judge colors because they are very close to daylight. Place the monitor where the light is not directly exposed, because direct exposure will weaken the contrast. The display hood is recommended when the ambient light is very strong. If there is no mask, the effect of Apple's display is best, because it has the highest brightness, and can maintain its brightness even under strong ambient light conditions.

Light box

One way to more accurately determine the key color is to turn off the indoor glare. Calibrate the monitor and prepare its color profile. Place the printed sample under the Judge II GretagMacbeth and compare it with the image displayed on the monitor to determine the color accuracy. When the profile of the display is completed, and the brightness of the light box matches the brightness of the display, the “what you see is what you get” screen can be achieved.

Physical environment

Gray walls and desktop paint around the digital work area will not affect color judgment. For example, Munsell Gray 8 from Gretag-Macbeth can be used.

Computer environment

It does not take time to set up the computer correctly, but it is related to the final success. Before correcting and making the monitor's color profile, open the monitor panel in the system preset and change the desktop picture to a neutral gray. Apple offers a large amount of neutral backgrounds, such as pure gray. The next step is to install software to import, manage, and edit images. For best results, most applications require customized settings such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and software for digital cameras.

A consistent device is the best device

The profile of color is a basic reflection of the color performance of a device. If the color profile of the device changes after the color profile has been created, the file is no longer valid. To generate a color profile, the first step is to determine if the device's color behavior is always stable. If not, make sure that its behavior is stable.

Many devices can be calibrated, that is, return the device to a known standard of behavior. Some devices can self-calibrate like many scanners. Other devices require manual calibration before they are required to perform stably.

When a color file of a stable device is completed, the file can be used repeatedly as long as the media and the external environment of the application remain unchanged. For those devices that are not calibrated and do not perform well, it may be necessary to recreate the color profile each time it is used.

How to make color profile

All color files are generated in the same way. First, you must let the device regenerate the known color value and compare it with the value you require. Sometimes these two values ​​exactly match, and sometimes they are very far apart. This information is recorded in the color profile. ColorSync then uses a color management module to compare these files and determine which colors remain independent and which need to be adjusted to match device-specific color characteristics. The specific methods used by different devices are different, but the principle behind them is the same.

The color profile of the input device - scanner

Most scanners self-calibrate when they are initially started. The light source inside the scanner is constant and the scanner will use a built-in reference for self-test. If a scanner does not have an auto-calibration feature, you must make a color profile after you have calibrated it.

The basic principle of color correction technology is that the scanner first scans IT-8 standard color chips such as dedicated KODAK or AGFA, and then compares the color recognition performance of the scanner with its standard value to obtain the average color deviation. The ICC Profile of the scanner is formed, and the color calibration during the scanning of the scanner is performed through the profile during each scan of the scanner to achieve the best performance of the scanner.

To give a scanner a color profile, you need to use a reference target. The target can be a series of reflections and transmissions, such as Kodak or IT-8 standard color chips such as AGFA, or a print. When doing a color profile, scan each object. However, the scanned color file cannot be used to scan for transparency and vice versa. Turn off all color management functions in the scanning software and start scanning. Do not use any embedded color profile, save the scanned file in TIFF format, and then open it with a software that creates a profile (such as GretagMacbeth's ProfileMaker software). It takes less than 90 seconds to calculate a scanner's color profile, and the software will automatically store the completed file in the right place, ready to be used at any time.
Enter the device's color profile - Camera

The video film uses white light as a reference color and is measured in Kelvin color temperature. The standard film (daylight type film) is based on the color temperature of 5300K at noon on sunny days, and the B-type positive and L-type negative films are based on 3200K of tungsten light. When the color temperature does not meet the film color temperature standard, you can not capture the color of the film, photographers often need to use the color temperature balance filter (LB filter) to adjust the color.

Most digital cameras try to automatically balance color deviations so that the image looks natural. This is a key difference between scanners and digital cameras. The scanner has a built-in constant light source, but digital cameras record a wide range of color temperatures.

It should be noted that the color temperature setting (ie, the white balance in digital photography) is adjusted during shooting to reduce the color correction after shooting. However, because the camera usually has the function of automatic white balance, whether the white balance is adjusted accurately depends on the performance of the camera.

In order to make a best color profile for a digital camera, you first need to manually adjust the white balance, just like the first calibration scanner, so as to ensure the stability of the camera performance. All professional digital cameras support manual white balance, which can be done by shooting a reference object. To put it simply, you can do this: find a white reference, something like white paper, and some cameras have a white lens cap so that white balance adjustments can be made with a white lens cap. The operation is roughly as follows: The camera zoom lens to the wide-angle end, the white lens cover (or white) on the lens, cover tight; white balance transferred to the manual position, the lens at a sunny sky, pay attention not to directly With the sun, zoom in until the entire screen turns white. Press the white balance adjustment button until the manual white balance indicator in the viewfinder stops blinking (different machines indicate different methods), and white balance is manually adjusted.

After the manual white balance is completed, take a test target for the color profile under the light settings you need. Then run the file you just took in the software such as GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker. The resulting color profile is the camera's color profile stored in the computer.