PatB

O...M...G...   ???      Thank you!

How do I get this view of my paint brush strokes  on a new layer, from an area of a photo I'm working on in Photoshop? 

Thanks!

Thanks Damien, you can't know them all!  You did help with triggering new ideas for me to try.

I suspect a new monitor is on the horizon for me... hurry up Black Friday!

I spent most of the day today trying everything I could think of, including higher targets and re-calibrating a ga--zillion times with each new idea.  Unfortunately, the luminance will just not increase above 65-69 Cd/m2. 

It was interesting tho... before each calibration I always reset the monitor itself back to factory settings.  I measured the monitor luminance afterwards because I saw it brighten (without a calibrated profile) and it measured 87 !!  Tried to get it to stick with that luminance with subsequent calibrations but luminance returns to the 60's afterwards.  Frustrating!

 

Sorry Damien, it got late and I went to bed last night.

I compared quite a few prints and they are definitely brighter than what I see on the screen and I do calibrate for the prints.  Whites, neutrals and colours are good except that they are not bright enough.

There is a Fine-tuning option to adjust luminance but it has limits of 20% either way and that didn't seem to help anything.

I did a quick calibration the usual way, choosing "maximum luminance" instead of using the usual  "absolute luminance" setting of 100 Cd/m2.  The monitor brightened way up, ridiculously so, so the monitor is capable of brightening; just how to get there with some control.

I'm reading everything I can get my hands on to understand deeper how this all works and want to try a few things, just need more time then I currently have.  The calibration software & updates I've done are suspect as well so I'm playing with that.  I sure appreciated what I found from you on this topic here.

In the meantime, it would help to hear your thoughts... 

Oh for heaven's sake... of course I do.  I totally misunderstood you, thought I needed fresh prints!  Why, I obviously didn't know but trusting you...

I'll do that right now!

OK will do that... will be a week or more since I have to send out to a printing service but I'll follow up with you ASAP.  Thank you!!

No, sorry... I'm only calibrating, not matching to prints.  

I did read your article that only the print comparison matters, but how will I ever match my prints with any consistency if the luminance keeps fluctuating / falling to this degree?   

I have a Lacie 320 monitor that is now 9 years old.  I use a Lacie Blue Eye Pro device for calibration.  Windows 7 Pro OS, recently upgraded from the "Home" version, in case that effects calibration.

My system was out of commission for several months awaiting repair so it hasn't been calibrated for a long while.  Since the windows upgrade I've calibrated my monitor several times and the results are good except for the luminance  values, which appear to be dropping alarmingly away from the target with each calibration.  I've attached the most recent calibration results which will give you more info.

The luminance target I set is 100, result after the most recent calibration is 66 Cd/m2.   Earlier today the luminance result was 71 Cd/m2.   A few days ago the result was 79.   Prior to the windows upgrade and when I calibrated to my prints, the results were in the 90's range.   (my targets are set to match the printing service I use)

Do these falling luminance results indicate that my monitor is failing and needs to be replaced?   Or is this a calibration issue?  Looking forward to any advice you can offer, thanks!