Advice Please; Cannot Get Proper Calibration Result

[kaibren]

Hi Damien (and helpers),

After running my Spyder5 Pro calibrator, following Damien's instructions, five times and still not getting the result to match my prints I am hoping you can help me figure out where I am going wrong.  I got my best results after the fifth time but the monitor is still much warmer than the prints. 

-screen brightness is all the way down to 0 and that is finally a good match to the prints as far as that goes

-have tried all three white point settings

-in all three white point settings the screen is showing pink or overly yellow tones in areas that should be whites or tans (such as sky, snow, skin tones, walking paths). 

-I have talked to my lab and they recommend printing new test prints but I do not see why that would be necessary

This result is currently based off comparing prints to screen during daylight hours. In the evening it is even worse but I think my light source is too yellow and too dim. So we will be changing the bulbs based on your recommendations in one of your posts and then I will do another night time comparison. I will be editing both in daylight and at night so I need to get the best match possible during both times. My editing is done on a Dell monitor that matched the specs you recommended. It is set up in a small alcove off my dining room. There is a lot of light during the day through windows facing north and south however no direct light hits the screen due to it being tucked into the alcove.  At night the area is lit by a shaded three bulb dining room light directly behind me, so the monitor faces the dining room light. I may or may not be able to add a desk lamp if it is recommended, depending on size as the space is not big.

At this point what would your recommendation be as to my next step? 

 

Thank you

[Samantha LaRue]

I think taking control of your lighting situation is a good step. Replace your bulbs with daylight bulbs, and maybe consider hanging curtains over the windows during the day to keep some of the sunlight out? 

Ordering new test prints (from the same lab, or a couple different ones), is also something I'd look into now. It could be that your lab didn't print your images properly and that's why you are unable to calibrate to match them. You did make sure to order these without color correction, right?

Do you have an example image you can post where it looks obviously white to you on your print, but is showing some other color on your screen? 

[kaibren]

Yes, I can post an image when I get home from work (9:30 CST Canada).

I did close my blinds when comparing during the day and it was mid afternoon, which is fairly neutral light and the time of the day I would do the majority of my daytime editing in. Not the yellow you get early morning and late evening. 

To be honest I am uninclined to order from a different lab. The rest of them are in the States and our dollar is ridiculous right now. If it becomes unavoidable and obvious that I need to test out other labs I will but I would prefer it being the last resort.

Thank you for your input and I will post an image in about five hours.

Oh, and yes, ordered without colour correction.

[Damien Symonds]

1 hour ago, kaibren said:

-in all three white point settings the screen is showing pink or overly yellow tones in areas that should be whites or tans

 

1 hour ago, kaibren said:

In the evening it is even worse but I think my light source is too yellow

These two statements seem to contradict each other.  If the screen is too yellow, then shouldn't viewing prints in yellow light make the prints closer to the screen, not further away?

[kaibren]

4 hours ago, Damien Symonds said:

 

These two statements seem to contradict each other.  If the screen is too yellow, then shouldn't viewing prints in yellow light make the prints closer to the screen, not further away?

Yes, you are right. Sorry my initial explanation above was not clear enough. At night the prints are incredibly yellow compared to my screen. I am working on fixing that though. Found your suggestions regarding what bulbs to look for (lumens, temperature) and will change ours out ASAP.

In the meantime, they do not match the monitor in the daytime either and the daytime is when I will likely do at least half my editing. I have controlled all external light sources I can during the day. There is no where else in our house I can edit. I cannot get the prints to match the screen. I have been very careful not to edit or compare prints during golden hour on either end of the day and I lower the blinds so the light source is less. Also, The monitor is tucked in an alcove, so no direct light is falling on the screen.

As @Samantha LaRue asked, I have included a couple files that I used for my test prints. I am only going to reference the issues I am seeing when comparing during daylight as I know my nightime light source needs adjusting. In the snowy scene with the horses, the snow and the clouds have a pink under tone to them. The one with the little girl, the sky is off tone. The one with the couple, the path behind them the tone is off significantly to the print. Also, in the image with the couple the foliage has much less contrast in the print than on screen but I was thinking that could be because my brightness was off?

Thank you

[Damien Symonds]

Are you aware that these are rather dark, especially the third one?

8 minutes ago, kaibren said:

At night the prints are incredibly yellow compared to my screen

And in daylight?  How do the prints and screen compare?

[kaibren]

4 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

Are you aware that these are rather dark, especially the third one?

And in daylight?  How do the prints and screen compare?

Yes. I am aware. My screen was set too bright when I ordered the prints. I have fixed the brightness so I now have that portion of calibration matching my screen but the colours are not.

I am only going to reference the issues I am seeing when comparing during day light, in the snowy scene with the horses, the snow and the clouds have a pink under tone to them. The one with the little girl, the sky is off tone. The one with the couple, the path behind them the tone is off significantly to the print. 

Basically all the light tones (sky, skin, gravel, clouds, snow) all have too much pink/red/sometimes yellow tones to them. The darker tones seem fine.

 

[Damien Symonds]

6 minutes ago, kaibren said:

Basically all the light tones (sky, skin, gravel, clouds, snow) all have too much pink/red/sometimes yellow tones to them.

On screen, you mean?

We need to simplify this as much as possible.  Complete this sentence:  "The lighter tones of the photos are _____________ (warmer/colder) on screen than the prints"

[kaibren]

1 minute ago, Damien Symonds said:

On screen, you mean?

We need to simplify this as much as possible.  Complete this sentence:  "The lighter tones of the photos are _____________ (warmer/colder) on screen than the prints"

Warmer

[Damien Symonds]

But if I were to ask you the same question at night time, you'd put "colder" in that blank space?

(Just making sure I've got all this straight in my head)

[kaibren]

5 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

But if I were to ask you the same question at night time, you'd put "colder" in that blank space?

(Just making sure I've got all this straight in my head)

Yes. That is currently correct. But the answer for night time may be different once we get the right bulbs in.

[Damien Symonds]

Forgive me if you're already told us this, I couldn't see it - what screen do you have, exactly?

[kaibren]

21 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

Forgive me if you're already told us this, I couldn't see it - what screen do you have, exactly?

It is a Dell. But I can't find the model # anywhere on it. I will have to look for the bill and can't do that until sometime tomorrow.

[Damien Symonds]

That's ok. It's a standalone desktop monitor, not a laptop?

[kaibren]

2 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

That's ok. It's a standalone desktop monitor, not a laptop?

Yes, that is correct.

[Damien Symonds]

Wonderful.  And these are the instructions you're following?

[kaibren]

6 hours ago, Damien Symonds said:

Wonderful.  And these are the instructions you're following?

Yes

[Damien Symonds]

Ok.  You mentioned that you'd tried the various white temp options in the Spyder software.

But are you sure you chose the best colour setting on the screen itself?  What are the options called, and which one have you chosen?

[kaibren]

2 hours ago, Damien Symonds said:

Ok.  You mentioned that you'd tried the various white temp options in the Spyder software.

But are you sure you chose the best colour setting on the screen itself?  What are the options called, and which one have you chosen?

I chose Warm as that was the closest match to my prints when going through the steps. However, now that you have asked this question, I am thinking I may have to wait to get my new bulbs to do anything about this problem. Tell me if I am correct in the following thought process...

Calibrating at night is best because it is really easy to make the room as dark as possible. However, the step of choosing the white temp options would be flawed currently because I am fairly certain my dining room light is not the right light. But then shouldn't my prints match at night better? Oh my head is hurting!!

The options I have on my screen are as follows...

Standard, Multi Media, Movie, Game, Paper, Warm, Cool, Custom Colour

Thank you

[Damien Symonds]

45 minutes ago, kaibren said:

Calibrating at night is best because it is really easy to make the room as dark as possible. However, the step of choosing the white temp options would be flawed currently because I am fairly certain my dining room light is not the right light.

The purchase of the new bulbs should fix this problem also.

[kaibren]

1 hour ago, Damien Symonds said:

The purchase of the new bulbs should fix this problem also.

Okay. So your suggestion at this point is to get the bulbs, do the calibration again and see if it makes a difference? I do not need new prints right? My originals are fine?

Thanks

[Damien Symonds]

As long as you sent sRGB files to the lab for those prints, then yes, they should be fine.  No new prints needed.