A client just happened to see an image on my screen and fell in love with it. He ordered a print on the spot. The file was sent to the lab and the print came a week later. I was so excited to be able to look at a very large print of this image for the first time. The print was opened and disappointment struck. The color was off. I opened the image on my computer screen to compare to the print. The one on the computer was just beautiful. How could this be? The print was made from the same file as the one displaying on my screen.

          I soon learned that the color on my monitor was off. When we process images we process them from what we see on the screen. We tweak colors and settings to get the image to be pleasing to us. When our monitors are not calibrated we are actually messing up our images because we are shifting the colors based on what we see on an uncalibrated monitor. When such a processed file is then displayed on someone else's screen (that is correctly calibrated) the colors will be off. In this case, the print was off because I processed the file on a monitor that was off color.

          That was many years ago. Today I calibrate my monitor before I process any major shoot and about once every two months routinely. So how do you calibrate your monitor? You need to buy a colorimeter. Most photographers buy either a Datacolor Spyder or an X-Rite (Colormunki). Prices vary from about $90.00 through $150.00 (there are more expensive models). The colorimeter comes with software which displays set colors for the colorimeter to "see" or measure. It then compares which color is sent with which color is "seen". The process goes through many colors and takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Once done, your monitor is set to display the same color as the color you see when looking at it. There can be quite a difference between the before and after images.

          If you are serious about photography, think about investing in a colorimer. There is no use to spend all your time editing images on a monitor that displays incorrect colors. All the work will have to be redone. Therefore, I highly recommend that you calibrate your monitor regularly.