Whitehead Institute BaRC
 
 


Updated 7/12/05
 

Inside WI > BaRC > Graphics > Photoshop > Monitor Calibration

 

Monitor calibration

Apple Menu > Control Panel > Adobe Gamma Choose step by step to walk through the process of calibrating your monitor. Click on "load" to choose your monitor's ICC profile from the menu. If it isn't there, choose whatever seems closest to it. This is your starting point. Now you need to go through the calibrating process.

Brightness and Contrast:
There is a dark gray square inside a black square, inside a white square. You are asked to make the inside square as dark as possible without disappearing, while also keeping the white square bright white.

 

Phosphors: .............
If you have a profile for your monitor, this will be set automatically. Otherwise, you may need choose something close or contact the manufacturer of your monitor to get this information.


Gamma Setting:.............Back to top
Move the slider until the center box matches the patterned frame. It's easiest to do this by focusing slightly away from the box, watching out of the corner of your eye for when the center box blends in best. If you uncheck "view single gamma only", you can accomplish the same thing by adjusting the three colors individually. This method can be more accurate.


 

White Point: .............Back to top
Now you need to measure the white point of your monitor. Turn off the lights and cover any windows. You are shown three gray squares. The middle one is supposed to be neutral, while the outer ones are either warm or cool in tone. Click on the outer ones to increase the warmth or coolness of the color until the middle square achieves a neutral gray. When you are finished, click the middle square.

When you are finished, you can view "before" and "after" by clicking the radio buttons. I suggest that you save your profile with your name and the date so that you can keep track of the last time you calibrated the monitor. It should be done every few months to keep your color matching accurate.

 

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