Step 6

This is the step where we neutralise the colour imbalances inherent in our monitor. Adjust each of the sliders in turn so as to blend the inner square with its coloured surround. Again squinting is a great help.

Green is usually the most difficult to get right, but persevere. The closer you get to a perfect match at this point the more accurate your final profile will be.

 

 

Step 7

Depending upon your computer type choose either the "Windows Default" or "Mac Default" gamma. In reality, this choice is not as important as it once was and you can choose either in the knowledge that Photoshop will make the appropriate corrections when necessary. Personally, and even though most of my work is now done on the Mac platform I choose gamma 2.2

 

 

Step 8

Choosing the "White Point" for your monitor is pretty much a formality these days. Even the die-hards are in agreement that 6500^oK is probably the best option on most systems.

You should have already set the Hardware white point via the dials/buttons on the monitor. Most monitors have a native white of 9300^oK; so do check what it has been manually set to.

Choosing 6500^oK provides the cleanest and brightest white point and closely matches daylight. If you feel really confident you could select the "Measure" option. You can choose 5000^oK, but this usually produces a slightly dimmer and more yellow white point.

 

 

Step 9

Generally, it's better to leave the Adjusted White Point setting at the default - "Same as Hardware". Nevertheless, this option is used to choose a working white point for monitor if it differs from the hardware white point set in the last step.

By way of example; if your hardware white point can only be set to 6500^oK, but you want to set it at 5000^oK because that most closely represents the environment in which it will normally be viewed, you can set your Adjusted White Point to 5000^oK, and Adobe Gamma will change the monitor display accordingly: However, choosing this approach will all cause the graphics card colour LUT to be adjusted quite severely, and depending upon the graphics card the screen can look quite ugly on some systems. As indicated above I recommend that you choose "Same as Hardware" and thus avoid this problem.

 

 

Step 10

That's it, if all has gone well you will have adjusted the brightness, contrast and colour settings of your monitor to the optimum values.

Make a quick check using the "Before" and "After" radio button. If you're happy that the screen display now looks more neutral than before press the "Finish" button and "Save" the profile. Once saved the profile will be available for use by the OS and Photoshop.

 

 

There are a number of third party alternatives to Adobe Gamma, which can be purchased from companies such as GretagMacbeth, ColorVision, Monaco Systems or Praxisoft.

The above companies can be contacted via the URL's listed below: -

GretagMacbeth - http://www.gretagmacbeth.com or http://www.i1color.com

Color Vision - http://www.colorvision.com/

Monaco Systems - http://www.monacosys.com

Praxisoft - http://www.praxisoft.com

The advantage of Adobe Gamma (Windows systems) and Monitor Calibrator (Mac systems) is that they're free, whereas the third party products can cost nearly as much as Photoshop. However, since many third party alternatives use "hardware" and not the "eyeball" for measurement we are assured of greater accuracy.

Useful Information on location of  ICC/ColorSync Profiles

Profile locations:- 

Windows 98, 98 Second Edition and Me - folder named windows/system/color

Windows 2000 and  XP - sub-folder named system32/spool/drivers/color

Mac OS9.x - ColorSync profiles are located in the System Folder/ColorSync Profiles folder

Mac OSX - ColorSync profiles are located in the Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder