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Tutorial Video: How Photographers Can Calibrate Their Computer Display

Chris Gampat
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09/09/2017
3 Mins read
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Last Updated on 09/09/2017 by Chris Gampat

Photographers need to be able to not only shoot great photos, but also export great images. And there are lots of tutorials on how to edit your photos to look a given way but not a whole lot on how to do something fundamental to the process: screen calibration. Let’s think about this: my office setup and the lighting there is most likely far different from what you have in your office, where you’re probably reading this from, or on your mobile device. So it isn’t the same viewing experience. If you’ve ever used photographic reflectors, your viewing experience of a screen is very much like using different sides of a reflector–soft gold does one thing, white does another, etc. Photographers need to be able to give their viewers the same viewing experience they have.

In order to do that, please check out this video below on just how you calibrate your display from our recent Facebook Live session.

Editor’s Note: The is a sponsored blog post from Datacolor. All information presented here is perfectly accurate and put together by Editor in Chief Chris Gampat. Own a calibrator? Upgrade to Spyder5ELITE+ from ANY brand! Click this link to see more.

I’m obviously using a DataColor Spyder5Elite in the video and their workflow has always been the simplest to me. Calibrating your display, while the idea may be intimidating, isn’t honestly difficult to do. Beyond just installing software, the on-screen program leads you through the entire process. We’ve got a slightly more in-depth guide on calibrating your monitor right here, but let me walk you through actually doing it.

Always Let Your Display Warm Up

This is a big one. You wouldn’t drive a car without warming it up and you wouldn’t run a marathon without warming up. So because your display is about to go through some rigorous testing, you should let it warm up. Just like the doctor recommends for your own body, let the screen warm up for around 30 minutes. Use it. Don’t let it go to sleep.

For a Full Recalibration, Choose Your Display’s Standard Calibration Settings

If you’re on an Apple device, you can choose the display calibration by going to System Preferences > Display > Color. Then from there you can choose a big selection. When you go to print a photo, you can send that profile to the printer. The larger the area of the Adobe RGB gamut that your display covers, the more your printer will be able to match the display.

For a ReCalibration, Use the Same Settings You Were Working With

Recalibration can be thought of more as a checkup rather than a whole diagnostic. These typically don’t take that long at all.

Laptops: Calibrate Everywhere You Go If Editing

If you’re editing images on a laptop and you’re constantly on the move, I’d calibrate based on wherever you’re going. An airplane window seat has a much different viewing experience than being in your office or living room. Your eye is always looking for a central white point.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.