Color Management Settings

One of the most difficult issues for many Photoshop users is color management. Let's take a look at some basic concepts of color management and the minimal steps that everyone should take.

We can think of color management for print as trying to make sure that what we see on screen is what the printed product will look like. Color Management for the Web is a bit more problematic. Since we can't control the settings of the viewers' monitors, at least not yet, we can only try to get accurate color.

It would be easy to get perfect color every time if all computers and printers and printing presses were 100% accurate all of the time. Unfortunately, various monitors and printers and inks and papers produce color somewhat differently. Color management is about making allowances for those differences.

[The best place to start learning about color management, by the way, 8is right at your fingertips. In Photoshop's Help Topics, take a look at the articles listed under "Producing Consistent Color (Photoshop). It is a wonderful introduction to color and color management.)

Step one should be monitor calibration. [Note: LCD and laptop monitors cannot be calibrated using the techniques described here. Refer to your documentation.) This is the process of getting the monitor to produce the most accurate color possible. Photoshop by default installs the Adobe Gamma control panel to help you calibrate. With Photoshop, it's in your system's control panels. For Photoshop 5, look under Help> Color Management. Adobe Gamma allows you work with the control panel or with an Assistant that walks you through the steps. We'll look at the control panel first.

Before you start, use your monitor's physical or software controls to turn the contrast to its highest setting Ð you want the most contrast possible. The top of the control panel allows you to load any existing monitor profile. If you're just starting out with color management, use the default generic profile.

The Phosphors pop-up list offers you a variety of choices. The documentation for your monitor should tell you what type of phosphors you have. If not, try checking the manufacturer's Web site. If there's no info available, Trinitron is usually a successful option.

We'll skip Gamma for now and drop down to the White Point section. If your monitor's documentation tells you the hardware's white point, use it. If not, eliminate as much ambient light (room lighting, light through windows, etc.) and click the Measure button. Adobe Gamma will walk you through the measurement process. The Adjusted pop-up menu is best left at Same as Hardware for most purposes.

Let's return to Gamma. First, from the Desired pop-up menu, select either Macintosh or Windows, depending upon your operating system. Now move the slider until the box in the center seems to blend into the surrounding box. Hint: The farther you are from the monitor, the easier it is. You can also uncheck the box View Single Gamma Only and adjust the red, green, and blue separately. This is usually a good idea.

When you've made the adjustment, close the control panel. You'll be prompted to save the profile. Do so. Give it a name, perhaps including the month and year, and save it in a location where you'll be able to find it again.

Next, open Photoshop. Go to the menu command Edit> Color Settings.

Check the Advanced Mode box to make your dialog box look (more or less) like the one shown here.

From the RGB pop-up menu, select Load RGB. You're likely to see a huge list of monitor profiles. You can, at your convenience, track down and delete profiles designed specifically for monitors that you don't own. (The generic and cryptically-named profiles should be retained.)

Find your newly-created profile and load it. Don't be surprised if it appears in the dialog box as "Generic RGB Profile."