Good color management relies on many variables. To get your color management right, it is important to follow these instructions very carefully. Please note that you need to turn off 'Manual Review & Correction' under the 'Print Settings' menu on the 'Sell my photos' screen for color management to work.
Color management is only beneficial if you have mastered the art of color correction. We can recommend the following books on both color correction and color management.
- Color Correction, for Digital Photographers only by Ted Padova and Don Mason
- Color Confidence, the Digital Photographer's guide to color management by Tim Grey
1) Start with a good monitor.
The monitor is often overlooked as a critical part of equation. Low end LCDs, as well as most laptops, easily shift colors by just changing the angle that you are looking at the screen. If your monitor does this, it is time for a replacement. We strongly recommend the Dell monitors for PC and Mac. Either the 2005FPW or the 2007WFP will give you great results.
2) Control your ambient lightning
The image displayed on your monitor emits light. This contrary to a print, which reflects light. Both you want to see under controlled light conditions. Don't be fooled by calibration devices that measure ambient lightning. While those help somewhat, it is a poor substitute for consistent lightning. Since it is consistent color that you are after, consist light conditions are critical. Ideally, you work in a 'digital darkroom'. A good setup would be a monitor hood and a room with minimum lightning.
3) Calibrate your monitor with the right settings
This is the most critical step and one that does not get enough attention. When using a Fuji Frontier, which is what we use at Shutterbug Storefront, you want to use the following settings:
- White Point / Color Temperature of 5000K
- Gamma of 1.8
If set differently, it is very unlikely your prints will match your monitor. If your monitor has RGB controls, and the Dell has, be sure to use them get the monitor white point to 5000K. Not all monitor calibration hardware has the ability to set the target or read the monitor's white point. We strongly recommend ColorVision's Spyder2Pro. This device will give you the flexibility you need to get your monitor calibrated professionally.
4) Choose the right workspace: sRGB
Without getting into the AdobeRGB vs sRGB debate, when it comes to using digital mini-labs, sRGB is your colorspace. That is not to say that digital mini-labs print as sRGB. In reality, the gamut of silver halide is far smaller than sRGB, but thankfully the difference that our eyes can perceive is relatively small. A file that is printed in AdobeRGB will likely come out looking flat and dull. Even if you prefer to work in Adobe RGB, it is important to convert it as sRGB prior to sending to Shutterbug Storefront for printing.
5) Soft proof your work
As stated above, the gamut of Fuji Frontiers is smaller than sRGB. To get an accurate representation of how your image will be printed, you will want to soft proof your image using one of our ICC profiles. We offer two different profiles:
- ICC Profile for prints on glossy, matte and luster up to 8x12
- ICC Profile for metallic prints (all sizes), as well as sizes larger than 8x12.
- ICC Profile / Folded Cards
- for folded cards only
Click on a link above and select 'Save target as'. To install ICC profiles in Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP:
Download the profile to your desktop by right-clicking and selecting "Save Target As". Select the profile and right-click. A menu will pop up. Choose the "Install Profile" option. If the "Uninstall Profile" menu item appears, you already have an ICC profile of the same name installed.
To install ICC profiles onto a Mac with OS X:
You should install profiles in one of two locations.
Copy the ICC profiles to the Users/[your login user name]/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder.
or
Copy the ICC profile files to the Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder. Note: Installing in this location requires the user to be an administrator of this system.
To do a soft proof in Adobe Photoshop, follow these simple instructions:
1) Make sure you have the profiles installed. If you did the installation while Photoshop was running, please exit and reopen Photoshop.
2) When you are ready to see what your image will look like when it's printed, go to View > Proof Setup > Custom... A dialog box will pop up. On the Profile drop down, select 'Shutterbug Storefront' (prints up to 8x12 on glossy, luster or matte) or 'EXM' (for all other products) from the list. 'Rendering intent' should be set to 'perceptual', 'preserve color numbers' should be set to 'unchecked', 'use black compensation' and 'paper white' should both be set to 'checked' and 'ink black' should be unchecked.
Select OK to make adjustments to the photo while the soft proofing is enabled.
To turn off the proof, go to View > Proof Colors and uncheck it. This will return your view to the native sRGB.
Tip: you can toggle between soft-proof and native view by pressing down on CTRL-Y or Apple-Y.
6) Comparing the print to the monitor
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Before ordering a test print, please be sure to disable 'Manual Review & Correction' in the 'Print settings' menu under 'Sell my photos'. Comparing prints however is no easy matter. There's simply no point in holding it next to the monitor. After all, the monitor emits light, and the print reflects light. If you hold them next to each other, the print will always come across darker and with a slight color shift. The best way to compare prints to the monitor is to using a proofing box, like the GTI PDV-1E. That price is a bit steep for most of us, so alternatively, look at a specific area of the print in filtered daylight, and then go back to the monitor and compare that specific area. Give your eyes some time to get used the monitor display and vice versa. It is important to note that it is basically impossible to get a 100% match due to the different use of light. The point of color management is to get as close as possible, and to get consistent results.
7) Yes, but this other site says...
There are different ways to accomplish the same goal. For example, you could 'convert' your image to our ICC profile and choose your specific rendering intent. It is fine when you do that and we will honor it. You do not need to embed the ICC profile. The downside of conversion is you will lose image data, and it is an extra step in the work flow process.
8) Do I really need to all this to get great prints?
No! Part of Shutterbug Storefront's pro lab service is that we color correct all print orders. To utilize this service, be sure not to disable'Manual Review & Correction by lab' in the print settings menu on the 'sell my photos' screen. Unless you are willing to do all the above steps, and take the time to fully color correct each photo, we recommend you use this service. Our experienced and professional printers will then do it for you at no extra charge.
