Hi all,
I can provide some suggestions and methods for ensuring that colours
are accurately perceived on any computer:
First, there is no possible standard on digital colour resolution
despite what some companies claim. In print, standardized colours are
often used and the Pantone system can ensure that the exact colours
are reproduced. The problem here is that while the Pantone system has
many colours, it cannot reproduce them all. In order to create a
perfect reproduction of any colour in print it is necessary to run a
number of colour tests on the exact system that will be printing the
final product. Even if one uses the same model printer, computer, and
RIP software, it will not give the same results as a color test done
on others -- it has to be the same equipment.
For colour reproduction on computers, the same problems apply -- two
identical model monitors set to identical colour specifications will
give varied results.
Now for the solution:
When creating an image, check the image colour against the actual
object - ideally lit by diffused daylight and adjust it as best you
can on your computer. Check the colour balance -- red, green, blue
(RGB), the contrast, the saturation and the lightness (HSV) settings
in graphics software. Ensure that the image is as good as you can make
it.
In the corner of the image, place a small grey square. The grey should
be set with the following RGB settings 128-128-128 (white is
255-255-255, and black is 0-0-0)
This will give the average of all computer colours.
For adjusting an image at the audience end:
Adjust the colour balance so that the square reads 128-128-128 when
using the "paint dropper tool available in all graphics software. The
easiest way to do this is to use Color Pilot, you can download a
shareware version at:
http://www.colorpilot.com/pilot.html
This is a wonderful program to adjust the entire image by using
reference colours, you can also specify the reference (if you take a
number of pictures against the same colour background and then find
that the background colours vary in the final product, you can set
this background colour as a reference and all images will be adjusted
accordingly.
This will ensure that the end user can see close to what you created
with only a little effort. The monitor can be a problem -- test this
by looking at white and making sure that you see white and not some
hint of another colour. Adjust you monitor (or buy a better one!)
One more thing: make sure your computer is set to full, and not high
colour. This will give the full range of colours eg: 255 X 255 X 255 =
16.7 million. Be aware that some Macs will be set to raise the gamma
and images can thus look lighter on a Mac and darker on a PC. This can
be disenabled. Check your monitor's colour settings
Cheers,
John
--
http://www.writer2001.com/
Hooker & Perron, Total Project Coordination
Database-Web...Graphics...Custom Maps...Colour Suites...Expert Systems
Building the Celtic Coin Index on the Web:
http://www.writer2001.com/cciwriter2001/
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