Calibrating your monitor for colour accuracy is an important step in creating fine art prints. With an accurate display, you can avoid expensive reprints as a result of colour misrepresentation.

 

Things to note before colour calibration

• Let your monitor warm up for 30 minutes before calibration.
• Set your screen resolution to its native screen resolution.
• Calibrate your screen in a controlled lighting environment – please refer to the previous article for more information.

 

Basic colour calibration using built-in Windows and Mac tools

Screen Calibration in Windows 10
Step 1: Go to Settings app.
Step 2: Click on System in the main menu, and select Display.
Step 3: Under the Display menu, scroll to the bottom and select Advanced Display Settings.
Step 4: Scroll down and select Colour Calibration.
Step 5: Follow the instructions on screen.

 

Screen Calibration in Mac OS
Step 1: Go to Apple menu, and select System Preferences.
Step 2: Select the Display, follow by Colour tab.
Step 3: Click the Calibrate button.
Step 4: Follow the instructions.
Step 5: Save the calibration profile.

While colour calibration using your computer’s operating system’s built-in tools is a good first step, it is not entirely accurate as you are reliant on your own colour perception to make corrections. This is subjective and can be inaccurate. The use of colorimeter hardware for screen calibration is, therefore, highly recommended.

 

Precise colour calibration with colorimeter hardware

A good colorimeter is equipped with a full-spectrum, seven-colour sensor to accurately map a wide range of displays. Spyder5EXPRESS and Xrite ColorMunki are examples of basic colorimeters, and if you are interested in calibrating your printer as well, a product such as the ColorMunki Photo even allows you to create custom printer profiles for a colour corrected workflow in Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.

 

In our next article, we will learn about profiling your printer for greater colour accuracy.

 

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