help with finding backlight color for my 2012 Imac

[angelah]

Just now, Christina Keddie said:

Of course you want your monitor to match your prints.  Our point is that the prints are the actual standard, so you need to get your monitor to match them, not the other way around. Once your monitor matches your prints, then you'll KNOW that what you see on screen is what will be in the print, so you can edit them accordingly in full confidence that they'll turn out as you expect.

But thats what I've been trying to do and I cannot get them to match the ugliness of what my prints are showing. I've gone through all the native, recommended options in my calibration and my monitor never looks like my prints.

[Samantha LaRue]

The recommendation Damien gives for brightness is a loose guideline. It doesn't apply to everyone, that's why you need to make sure the light in your room is as good as it can be, and then you need to lower the brightness further until it does match. That's the first step.

[angelah]

oh I know it's a guideline, I played with it and I feel my brightness is pretty much what I see in my prints, but the color is off in the prints making them appear dull and lifeless. I am confused however because I thought I was supposed to calibrate in dim light (which I did) Can you clarify this? I saw someplace that it needed to be dark but then I do believe I saw contradiction that it should be bright enough to do homework in. I was reading a lot of stuff trying every avenue.

[angelah]

I also saw another post where it looked like the person had the exact problems, was it rectified at all?

[Christina Keddie]

15 minutes ago, angelah said:

oh I know it's a guideline, I played with it and I feel my brightness is pretty much what I see in my prints, but the color is off in the prints making them appear dull and lifeless. I am confused however because I thought I was supposed to calibrate in dim light (which I did) Can you clarify this? I saw someplace that it needed to be dark but then I do believe I saw contradiction that it should be bright enough to do homework in. I was reading a lot of stuff trying every avenue.

Run the actual calibration in dim or dark light.  Compare your prints to your screen (and do your editing, when you edit) in light bright enough to do homework in -- bright, white light.

[angelah]

2 minutes ago, Christina Keddie said:

Run the actual calibration in dim or dark light.  Compare your prints to your screen (and do your editing, when you edit) in light bright enough to do homework in -- bright, white light.

I did the cal in dark light, turned then compared. I could never get a match.

[Samantha LaRue]

18 minutes ago, angelah said:

but the color is off in the prints making them appear dull and lifeless.

can you send me the jpeg you sent to the lab? so I can see it on my screen? https://www.dropbox.com/request/K5oZIgNacH8L19eG7A5n

 

[angelah]

Just now, angelah said:

I did the cal in dark light, turned then compared. I could never get a match.

turned on lights

[angelah]

2 minutes ago, Samantha LaRue said:

can you send me the jpeg you sent to the lab? so I can see it on my screen? https://www.dropbox.com/request/K5oZIgNacH8L19eG7A5n

 

Thank you! Sent

 

Just now, angelah said:

Thank you! Sent

 

I have several images but I'm really looking at this one I sent you as being the most noticeable. All of them do not match and are similar with color issues.

[Samantha LaRue]

1 minute ago, angelah said:

Thank you! Sent

 

Well, I don't see anything wrong with the file itself. Is that the exact same file you sent to the lab? 

Lets back up a bit. Just to make sure we are on the same page. 

The brightness is fine. But your monitor is warmer or cooler than the prints?

[angelah]

2 minutes ago, Samantha LaRue said:

Well, I don't see anything wrong with the file itself. Is that the exact same file you sent to the lab? 

Lets back up a bit. Just to make sure we are on the same page. 

The brightness is fine. But your monitor is warmer or cooler than the prints?

THank you so much for helping me further!!! Yes it is the exact same file! I have these separate so I can hopefully see the good test prints vs bad. My monitor is warmer, redder, more magenta in the grey portion (which I know you probably cannot see from the file I sent) Is that what you see as well? Because the print is cool and dull

[Samantha LaRue]

I honestly don't even see a grey portion since it looks so warm to me. I see shades of light brown and caramel, taupe etc. 

Are you sure the lab did not apply any color correction to your images? Where did you order from?

[angelah]

2 minutes ago, Samantha LaRue said:

I honestly don't even see a grey portion since it looks so warm to me. I see shades of light brown and caramel, taupe etc. 

Are you sure the lab did not apply any color correction to your images? Where did you order from?

Yes I warmed it all so it doesn't look true grey. But hat, wrap, and fur were all a greyish tone. Well I didn't see the option to do so, there was a button I could have clicked that said apply color correction $1.00 but I left it unclicked of course.

Just now, angelah said:

Yes I warmed it all so it doesn't look true grey. But hat, wrap, and fur were all a greyish tone. Well I didn't see the option to do so, there was a button I could have clicked that said apply color correction $1.00 but I left it unclicked of course.

Do the skin tones look how I described to you? reddish and warm?

[angelah]

1 minute ago, angelah said:

Yes I warmed it all so it doesn't look true grey. But hat, wrap, and fur were all a greyish tone. Well I didn't see the option to do so, there was a button I could have clicked that said apply color correction $1.00 but I left it unclicked of course.

Do the skin tones look how I described to you? reddish and warm?

WHCC sorry

[Samantha LaRue]

Ignore the skin tones for a bit and just worry about the fabrics and how they match. Are the prints still cooler than your monitor? 

[angelah]

5 minutes ago, Samantha LaRue said:

Ignore the skin tones for a bit and just worry about the fabrics and how they match. Are the prints still cooler than your monitor? 

yes they are

 

[Samantha LaRue]

And you said you ordered new prints from the same lab that are also much cooler than your monitor?

[angelah]

13 hours ago, Samantha LaRue said:

And you said you ordered new prints from the same lab that are also much cooler than your monitor?

Yes this is the second batch of prints I ordered. They are a tad better because I made some slight adjustments in hopes that they would have the desireable outcome. But  they are definitely cooler, the one image I sent you was much more noticeable. I see a pretty magenta/reddish hue (not a color issue) on my monitor, I like that and was hoping the prints would match that in which I edited to my tastes. What I got was not that.

[Samantha LaRue]

At this stage, I'd order prints from a different lab just to confirm that it's not a lab error. While it's unlikely that they messed up images from 2 different batches, it's not impossible. 

[angelah]

19 hours ago, Samantha LaRue said:

At this stage, I'd order prints from a different lab just to confirm that it's not a lab error. While it's unlikely that they messed up images from 2 different batches, it's not impossible. 

Thank you. I have another question.. I called WHCC just to see if they could give me advice since it's their product. The girl I spoke with mentioned that I could manually adjust my white point, making it 7000k etc which she told me would make my monitor cooler. I tried to figure it out since all I see are presets of 5000k, 6500k, native etc. Would you happen to know if this is doable? How to do it? Would it be of any benefit?

[Samantha LaRue]

You can't do this on a Mac. You'd need to rely on the software for the calibrator to make that adjustment, which is what Damien's instructions help you do. (Adjust the color temp of the monitor to match the prints)