A short introduction is called for here, too. People like to fetishize this topic, to spice it up with technical terms that few people know (gamut, dithering, ICC profile, etc.), and to talk about the need for hugely expensive equipment and workflows. And that is true, too. It takes a very good eye, a great deal of patience, lots and lots of testing and a monitor with the right technology to end up – without involving professionals – with a monitor that is calibrated, or at least on nodding terms with the real color content. What you shouldn't forget, though, is that even without all of this you can do something to make sure that, with at least the most important characteristics of your work monitor set, you see black as black, white as white and gray as gray, and that the sad sentence isn't uttered at the sight of the finished print: Wow, at home this was lighter (darker, more vivid, less magenta, etc.)...
Simple version, for the absolutely lazy
This image helps you set the brightness and contrast of your monitor. On the vertical gray chart, you should be able to see the difference between the two darkest steps and between the two lightest steps as well. If the dark steps blur together, the monitor is too dark or has too much contrast; if the light ones don't separate, it is too bright or has too much contrast. If the grayscale doesn't look gray, the color balance is off. If this image looks visually right to you, there can be at most a 20% difference compared with a professionally calibrated monitor. The numbers on the colored areas are the R, G, B values of the given color. If, when you print the chart, you get roughly the same image as the one you see on the monitor, the system is basically set up well. Under home conditions it won't be completely identical. (source: Fotovilág)
Download the test chart
Advanced version, for the demanding
In the top band of the calibration image, squares with 95% and 100% black coverage alternate. In the bottom band, the details of the image change in 21 steps, in 5% increments, from 0% to 100% black coverage.
Room lighting
Before you do any graphic work on your computer, turn off the lighting in the room or set it as low as possible. Any light coming from in front of you, or reflected from the walls onto the screen, makes the artwork appear lighter. As a result, the details in the darker, tonal areas can't be seen.
Contrast setting
Find the contrast control on your monitor and set it to maximum. In the screens of traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors, the phosphor materials “fade” after 2-3 years of use, and as a result the intensity of the beams decreases as well. If the black in the image still isn't strong and saturated enough, it is advisable to replace the monitor. Recommended brands: Apple, Eizo, NEC and LaCie.
Brightness adjustment
Adjust the brightness little by little until you can tell the bands apart in the top band of Figure 1. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the 3 lightest and the 3 darkest squares in the bottom half of the figure.
The monitor is too bright
If, after adjusting, you get a result similar to the figure below, your monitor is too bright. On the 21-step grayscale, the 3 squares at the bottom right disappear. In this case the shadows and the dark tones are visible, but the details blur together in the light range.
The monitor is too dark
If, after adjusting, you get a result similar to the figure below, your monitor is too dark. On the 21-step grayscale, the 3 squares at the bottom left look identical. In this case the light details are visible, but the details blur together in the dark range.
Color temperature
Color temperature specifies a color balance that defines natural daylight at different times of day. 9300K (degrees Kelvin) was established for a cold blue sky. The color temperature of an unadjusted CRT monitor, approximately 5000K, also known as “D50”, corresponds to warm midday sunshine. Monitors suitable for prepress are set between 5500K and 6500K. On your monitor you will find it under the name “Colour Temperature”.
Color balance
Find the “Tint” menu item on your monitor, or the sliders for adjusting the RGB channels. Open the artwork of the print we made in Photoshop (available at our print shop under the name calibration print), then match your monitor to it using the sliders. This way you will later be able to prepare your work with close-to-accurate colors, and fewer proof sheets will be needed to reach the result you want.
Reference images
The reference image must contain a grayscale that has no other color component, and color charts such as the standard Kodak or Macbeth shown below; it is also worth adding skin tones and other characteristic image elements. Don't use images that contain tones and colors of unknown value.
