"Andy Leese" wrote in message
...
I have decided to begin on the (seemingly) long path towards correct colour
reproduction for my computer, in particular my monitor. I believe I
understand the basics of 'colour management', but fail to see how all these
little elements form 'colour management' in it's entirety.

I use a Dell P992 monitor, NVIDIA graphics card running on Windows XP
Professional. I have Adobe Photoshop CS2 (and have in the past utilised
Adobe Gamma) and Adobe Illustrator CS2. The P992 monitor includes and ICM
profile (which I'm not sure whether to use or not).

Hi Andy,

Here's a procedure that should get you on track, without having to buy any
additional hardware.

Start by installing your P992 profile as your monitor profile. If you like
the result, stick with it. This is controlled in the color tab or your
display properties. If necessary, move the Adobe Gamma loader from the
startup folder to another location, and reboot your system. Then run Adobe
Gamma control panel, load the profile, and immediately quit without changing
anything. This will ensure that Photoshop will register the correct monitor
profile in its registry settings.

Next, load or otherwise create a gray step wedge of 21 steps, and make sure
that you can just detect the brightest and darkest squares, and that there
is no overall color cast, or a cast affecting part of the gradient. I've
created a step wedge like this, that also includes skin tones:
http://www.curvemeister.com/download...test_strip.htm

Here is another recent test that uses gradients of various colors to test
your video setup for banding.
http://www.curvemeister.com/download.../gradient6.png

If the step wedge and gradients look good in Photoshop, you're golden. If
they do not, download the following pair of free utilities, which will help
to calibrate and profile your display:
http://quickgamma.de/QuickMonitorProfile/indexen.html
http://quickgamma.de/indexen.html

Many people choose to purchase hardware to calibrate their displays, but
this is not necessary for single user systems where the extra time spent
calibrating manually is less important than the budget. I also believe that
it's a good chance for a hands on color adjustment experience to ensure that
your monitor is set up correctly. Good images were being created long
before monitor calibration gadgets arrived on the scene.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/