Best Computer & Monitor for Color Matches

Carolyn Long

QUESTION: HOW TO SEE WHAT WILL PRINT: I’m working on photos for a book, and want to be sure I am seeing & adjusting colors as accurately as possible before sending them to the book layout designer. I am using a Dell Latitude D800 laptop w/ 1920 x 1200 resolution & 128 MG Graphics Board. I am not confident I am seeing colors as accurately as I could be. I am considering purchasing a new computer and/or monitor, and am thinking about switching to Apple because while monitors work in RGB, I am told that the Apple operating system is better at showing CMYK colors as they will be printed. Both my photo editor and book layout designer are using Apple computers and encourage me to do likewise. My research shows that all computers are using either INVIDIA or ATI graphics boards, so I am not sure what the most important considerations are. Any suggestions regarding both computers (laptops or desktops) and monitors are appreciated.
My book is [FONT=&quot]A Dog’s Guide to Training Owners by Shannon the Dog, as told to Carolyn Long[/FONT]. You can see more about it at www.PrattPublishing.com
Thank you!

jfriend

Carolyn Long wrote:

QUESTION: HOW TO SEE WHAT WILL PRINT: I’m working on photos for a book, and want to be sure I am seeing & adjusting colors as accurately as possible before sending them to the book layout designer. I am using a Dell Latitude D800 laptop w/ 1920 x 1200 resolution & 128 MG Graphics Board. I am not confident I am seeing colors as accurately as I could be. I am considering purchasing a new computer and/or monitor, and am thinking about switching to Apple because while monitors work in RGB, I am told that the Apple operating system is better at showing CMYK colors as they will be printed. Both my photo editor and book layout designer are using Apple computers and encourage me to do likewise. My research shows that all computers are using either INVIDIA or ATI graphics boards, so I am not sure what the most important considerations are. Any suggestions regarding both computers (laptops or desktops) and monitors are appreciated.
My book is [FONT=&quot]A Dog’s Guide to Training Owners by Shannon the Dog, as told to Carolyn Long[/FONT]. You can see more about it at www.PrattPublishing.com
Thank you!

To make sure your images come out well in the book, you will need to at least do the following:

• Buy a high quality monitor. Nowadays, there are many to choose from. There's no inherent reason to get a Mac over a PC in this regard unless your support system all knows Macs, then you should probably get what they can help you with.
• Buy and use a monitor calibration system. I use Eye One Display 2, but there are others. What these do is adjust your video card so that you monitor produces standard colors that should match other calibrated devices.
• Use color-managed software. You need to make sure all display and editing software is color managed and knows about color profiles. Photoshop is the king here, but there are others.
• Get a printer profile from the book printer that will be printing your book. This is a file that describes the color capabilities of the printing that will be used for your book (what colors it is capable of printing). Your publisher should be able to help you find this.
• Learn how to soft-proof in Photoshop. Soft-proofing is a feature in Photoshop where you give it a printer profile (from the previous step) and photoshop attempts to show you what your image will look like when it is printed on that device. It can also show you which colors in your image are not contained within the gamut that the printer can produce and thus will be changed when printed.
• Lastly, you will probably need to learn how to "fix" images that contain colors that won't print properly by preserving the detail you want, but moving the colors into the range the printer can handle. This is an advanced topic and is the subject of several books. Dan Margulis' book Professional Photoshop is one such book that discusses this and there's the beginnings of a discussion of that book here at Dgrin.

If you're willing to do some reading and learning, this is all learnable.

colourbox

Carolyn Long wrote:

am thinking about switching to Apple because while monitors work in RGB, I am told that the Apple operating system is better at showing CMYK colors as they will be printed. Both my photo editor and book layout designer are using Apple computers and encourage me to do likewise.

If on the PC you are using programs that support ICC/ICM color profiles (e.g., the Adobe product line), and you calibrate your monitor, a PC will be as good as a Mac.

In fact, if you buy a Mac and aren't disciplined about color management, you will get less accurate results than if you buy a PC and are disciplined about color management. That's not to put down the Mac...your results rely on being disciplined about color management on either platform. And I'm a Mac user through and through, by the way.

The Mac advantage in color management is the largest in common consumer applications, where consumers aren't going to set up color management on their own. The advantage is smallest in the pro environment, where on either platform you have to be using color management at a higher level than is built into either OS. Adobe actually runs their own color management engine that's independent of the OS, so if you use Photoshop on either platform you should get the same results (assuming you have accurate profiles for your monitor and printer).

ronan_zj

ture, right now I feel like my Laptop screen sucks, although it is made by IBM. Maybe I should think about getting a decent LCD screen for color calibration.

claudermilk

What John said. You just need to get a good monitor, use color-managed software, and calibrate everything. The "you need a Mac for color work" argument is a total myth. I have my XP editing station fully calibrated and what I see on the monitor matches what's on the printer which matches real life.

jdryan3

claudermilk wrote:

I have my XP editing station fully calibrated and what I see on the monitor matches what's on the printer which matches real life.

Except if you see the world in Black & White ...

:lol :lol :lol

claudermilk

jdryan3 wrote:

Except if you see the world in Black & White ...

:lol :lol :lol

bad

yeah, well there's plenty of PS actions for that...AND for the classic rose-colored glasses as well.

cool, I finally have an excuse to use one of the flipoff smileys

jdryan3

claudermilk wrote:

bad

yeah, well there's plenty of PS actions for that...AND for the classic rose-colored glasses as well.

cool, I finally have an excuse to use one of the flipoff smileys

So glad I could be of help, Chris! :smack