Most of the time, the images that display on your monitor (screen) look completely different than when they print to paper. There are several factors that impact this, including improper color adjustment, graphics display or resolution settings. Generally, these problems are easy to fix. But don’t you think you are missing something extremely important here? The solution is to perform a monitor calibration, which, when completed, will get you the best printing results. Your monitor must be calibrated properly such that what you see on your monitor is what you get after printing – the WYSIWYG validation in printing.
A simple monitor calibration method starts with the adjustment of monitor settings in terms of brightness and contrast. Most calibration methods are applied to the two types of usage: high-end and low-end. Low-end calibration is generally referred to as the simple calibration method, which can be done with the help of a number of calibrating software available on the market. On the other hand, high-end usage demands high-end calibration, which in turn requires effective blending of software applications and hardware-centric techniques. But remember one thing: each operating system has the same standard monitor calibration method, though each comes with its own unique settings.
- Adjust your monitor to high-color mode (24 bit) and set the highest screen resolution for normal texts. On Windows operating systems it can done via Graphics Properties and on Mac it is achieved via Preferences and Displays settings.
- Warm up your monitor well before starting calibration. (Around half an hour).
- Make sure no light reaches your screen. There should not be any reflection either. Choose a suitable place with ambient light.
- Choose any test material for printing, preferably a good quality photograph. Try to print the selected photo on glossy paper. Once printed, compare it with the original photograph. Keep on comparing and adjusting contrast and brightness to its proper level until you get the desired match. Software calibration tools are instrumental to making these adjustments.
There are a number software programs available for calibrating your monitor, including QuickGamma, Adobe Photshop 7, ColoSync, Monica, Monaco Optix, Gretag Mcbeth Eyeone Display, and so on. You can also go for specialized licensing based on your requirements, whether enterprise or home systems.
- Make sure only one calibrating program is running at one time (if you have more than one) while you are performing the monitor calibration.
- You can take visual monitor calibration tests for effective calibrations.
- For consistent color setting, you can apply ICC Profiling techniques.
- If your system is already integrated with calibration tools and applications then do not get extra tools.
- Always use high-quality photography paper from a commercial photo lab.
Calibration of a monitor is all about effective color management. Once you have adjusted your monitor to your desired color settings, you will get the desired results, and your monitor will display the best quality images.