Why Colour Calibrate Your Monitor?

If there’s something distinctive about photos on the internet, it’s that everybody
sees them differently. Some are great, while others are awful. Reason? Computer
screens often come with default colours of the monitor, and their brightness varies
from one person to another. Furthermore, as the monitor gets older, the colours
also tend to change.
There’s also the aspect of print matching. It can be quite infuriating to have the
right image on your Windows PC, but when you print out a paper copy, you realise
that the colours aren't the same. The reason could be that your screen is fooling
you or your printer settings aren’t appropriate. So how can you avoid being fooled
by your screen? Before you start fiddling with your printer settings, begin by
calibrating your monitor. Ensure that the colours are displaying everything, as
they should.
When colour calibration matters
• If you’re a professional photographer, you’ll need to ensure that your photos
are entirely correct.
• If you’re collaborating with designers, you have to work within the same
colour context, and therefore, colour calibration is mandatory.
• If you’re a professional printer, you have to generate images that are true to
life.
What calibration entails
Calibrating your computer is pure breeze when you use a device called a
spectrophotometer that sits on your screen. As the name suggests, the device has
four functional components, with photo, spectrum, colour, and meter spectrum all in
one. So, basically, it measures light intensity.
Calibration sets your screen’s contrast and brightness to the appropriate levels.
So, if for instance, you’ve set your monitor to 100% brightness, you’ll get some
bright and punchy images, but if your printer settings aren’t matched with those of
the monitor, you will get something different. So, the essence of monitor
calibration is to give an excellent colour match between the print and screen
How to Calibrate
Generally, you can either calibrate your monitor using a piece of special
calibration equipment or specific software. Despite the device you use, each
handles the process a little differently, with each type coming with its set of
instructions. However, the most significant benefit of using hardware calibration
is that it lets you create device-independent International Colour Consortium
monitor profiles.
Also, you can decide to use third-party calibration software. The advantage of
this software is that it offers extensive controls the in-built tools in Mac
operating systems and Windows
Most people are unaware of the fact that MacOS and Windows come with an inbuilt
monitor calibration tools to guide you in the calibration process. If you’re a
casual image junkie, then the free tools should be your first port of call,
especially if you’re working on a lean budget. The terms used may sound scary at
first but there is a simple explanation to help you.