Idaho Airships, Inc.

Your monitors and printers are imperfect, and it is necessary to correct them individually so that they produce reasonably correct color and can exist cooperatively within your Color Management System (CMS). The product of “Calibration” is in fact a “Profile” which describes the general color performance of a particular device. Profiles are included within the set of Gamuts we have explored previously.

This post is directed at my friends in the Professional Aerial Photographers Association and is therefore biased toward small to medium-sized aerial photography operations.

To Calibrate your monitor/s you need a device called a “Colorimeter” and its associated software. A Colorimeter will measure the color performance of your monitor and generate a “Profile” which your CMS will use to correct the performance of the monitor. Each monitor must be Calibrated separately. Good Colorimeters and their bundled software are available in the $300 range.

I recommend that you establish a relationship with an outside provider for the calibration of your printer/s and each ink/media combination you use. The equipment and expertise necessary to Profile a printer aren’t comfortable fits for smaller companies or individuals just starting the CMS journey. Fortunately, printer profiling may be accomplished by mail-you simply download calibration target print files, disable any current CMS, print a few of the calibration targets and ship them off to your vendor. They’ll e-mail or FTP the Profiles to you (in the .icc or .icm format), with instructions for installing and employing them. Good printer Profiles are available in the $30+ range, with price potentially reflecting both the quality of the Profile and the amount of Technical Support available with the purchase.

Profiling your monitor or printer produces an Output Profile, which describes the color performance of the output device: The Profile serves as a Gamut, which among other things describes the extremes of white, black, and saturated colors that the device will produce, and describes the errors of a device so that they may be corrected by your CMS.

Logix, Inc. is a PAPA sponsor, and I recommend that PAPA members deal with them preferentially because of their gracious participation. Their website indicates that they have comprehensive supply and support offerings. However, you are not obligated to Epson products-the CMS hardware, software, and profiling services they offer are compatible with other brands as well.

A simple Gradient-Mapped aerial of Bruneau Canyon, 12/01.

L