WHY DOES YOUR PRINT NOT MATCH THE IMAGE ON YOUR MONITOR?
Have you noticed that when you get your new premium fine art print it does not look like it does on your compute monitor? Well, there are a couple reasons for this. Remember, a computer monitor is back lighting an image but the printed image is reflecting light. Most likely the issue is your computer monitor is not calibrated. Monitor calibration is key to the perfect print.
MONITOR CALIBRATION
Calibrating a computer monitor ensures the colors will be correct when the print is made. When I first started printing at home, the prints did not look like the image on my monitor. Aside from being dark (I talked about that in a previous blog post) the colors were not correct. I did a little research and came across some articles about calibrating my monitor. The local camera store Kenmore Camera happened to have a Spyder 5 monitor calibration tool from Datacolor. Basically, the monitor calibration tools are spectrophotometers. Spectro (derived from Spectrum) means a range of colors, photo is light, and meter is to measure. Essentially, it measures the light coming from the computer monitor.
DO YOU NEED A CALIBRATED MONITOR
Once I calibrated my monitor, my prints matched what I saw on my computer. Now remember, If you are not an illustrator, photographer, graphic artist, etc. and only deal with spreadsheets and word document, you don't need calibrate your monitor. You are only looking at text. Just realize the premium fine art print you just ordered from one these galleries will look different when it arrives than it does on your computer. The good news is that it will look much better in person than on your monitor. More vibrant colors, deeper blacks, etc.
I often use one of images as the background of my work computer. Unfortunately, I still have a day job and work 40 hours a week. The first thing I notice is how terrible the image looks compared to my home computer that is calibrated and new. it is a night and day difference. But, my work computer is used to spreadsheets, word documents, researching stuff on the internet, ordering parts, etc. Not for image editing. Therefore, I don't need a calibrated monitor at work. I have thought about taking my calibrator to work but I don't have access to add programs on that computer. The higher ups in Washington D.C. have shut off all access to installing programs ourselves and computer services now has to do it. But back to the point. Think about what the monitor is used for before spending a couple hundred dollars on something you don't need.
OLDER MONITOR ISSUES
Most computer systems have a built in color monitoring program you can use but an actually calibration tool like SpyderX is the best way to go. Over time, monitors and screens lose contrast, the color shifts, and the white and black levels change. This cause significant problems when it comes to editing my images. Like I mentioned before, I didn't realize the significance of this until I started printing. Now when I send files to the printer, I know the colors will be correct when the prints arrives at the customer's home.
CONCLUSION
When purchasing one of my Premium Fine Art Prints You can be sure the colors and contrast will be correct when the print arrives at your home or office. If you have any questions about my premium fine art prints, please use the Contact page and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
As the waves of Cape Disappointment State Park reflect off the wall, they get hit by incoming waves and create massive columns of water. During the big storms in winter, Cape Disappointment will never disappoint. You have to be careful because as the high tide comes in, the waves can crash over the rock wall and cause severe injury if you are too close. The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse creates a perfect backdrop for the large waves. The Lighthouse became the 8th active light on the west coast when it was first fired up on October 15, 1856.
