|
|
|
| Using Adobe Gamma |
| The Adobe Gamma Control Panel |
With Adobe Gamma you can calibrate your monitor's contrast and brightness, gamma (midtones), color balance, and white point. These settings are then used to characterize, or create a profile for, your monitor.
Before You Begin
|
• |
Make sure your monitor has been turned on for at least half an hour so its display has stabilized. |
|
|
• |
Set the room lighting at the level you plan to maintain. |
|
|
• |
Turn off any desktop patterns and change the background color on your monitor to a light gray. This prevents the background color from interfering with your color perception and helps you adjust the display to a neutral gray. (For more on how to do this, refer to the manual for your operating system.) |
|
|
• |
Set the white point of your monitor. This is a hardware adjustment, and how you do it depends on the monitor you are using. Most monitors have a control panel. If you're unsure how to set the white point on your monitor, consult the documentation that came with it.
If you work in a prepress environment, you should choose 5000K (D50). This is the standard illuminant for the printing industry. Otherwise, 6500K (D65) is a good choice. This is an important step. Most monitors default to a white point at 9300K, which is too bright for accurate color work. Unless the white point of your monitor matches what you set it to in Adobe Gamma (steps 5–6), you will not get good results from your color-managed workflow. |
To access the Adobe Gamma control panel
In Mac OS
Choose Apple Menu > Control Panels > Adobe Gamma:
In Windows 95 or Windows 98
Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel:
In the Control Panel, right-click the Adobe Gamma icon, and then choose Open from the shortcut menu.
| Note: If you're working in Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for Mac OS or Windows, you can also access Adobe Gamma by choosing Help > Color Management from the Photoshop menu bar:
|
When accessing Adobe Gamma for the first time, you will see the following window prompting you to choose between the Step By Step utility using the Adobe Gamma Assistant (Mac OS) or Wizard (Windows), or manual setup using the Control Panel utility:
If Adobe Gamma has already been used to calibrate and characterize your monitor, the above options will not appear. Instead, the Adobe Gamma control panel will appear. If you prefer to use the Step By Step utility, in Mac OS, click the Assistant button in the lower right of the Adobe Gamma control panel:
In Windows, click the Wizard button:
For information about using the Step By Step Assistant (Mac OS) or Wizard (Windows), proceed to Setting Adobe Gamma Step by Step.
For information about using the Adobe Gamma control panel, proceed to Setting Adobe Gamma Manually.
|
|
