Calibrated my monitor for Photoshop use help

[Mitchell84]

After using the Spyder Pro on my monitor ViewSonic VP2785-4K 27. It says it has set a calibrated profile on my monitor. It also says it read 100% SRGB and 99 % Adobe RGB. So far so good right.

I use my monitor 90% for photo editing in Adobe Photoshop CC. So my question is once the monitor is calibrated as a custom profile do I simply leave it on that mode or do I now go back and select one of the several custom buttons presets on my monitor such as Adobe RGB or SRGB when working in a program like Photoshop. Does the calibration correct these mode presets as well or do I now no longer need to use any of them?

In photoshop I'm working in Adobe RGB then I convert down to SRGB for web but embed the colour profile of Adobe RGB. So my thinking is after calibrating the monitor do I need to switch back to the Adobe RGB preset tab on my monitor to get true color representation whilst editing or do I leave it all on custom mode and edit as usual.

I hope this question makes sense.

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

Your calibration is for the monitor as it was when you did the calibration. If you change the monitor settings you will need to redo the calibration. It is a common error to calibrate, then change settings (I've seen "now we've calibrated the monitor, it's a bit too dark, so we'll just fix the brightness). 

You don't change the monitor to match your images. In fact, that's exactly what colour management is all about - it tell Photoshop how to convert images so they look right.

[Mitchell84]

Thanks for the reply. In that case once I've calibrated the monitor I will leave it on new custom profile and work as normal in photoshop. Thanks.

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

That's right. Don't do anything. Most color management problems happen because people do something when they shouldn't.

The whole purpose of the monitor profile is to describe the monitor's actual and current behavior. Change that behavior, and the profile is no longer valid.

"I convert down to SRGB for web but embed the colour profile of Adobe RGB."

No, if you convert to sRGB you embed the sRGB profile. If you convert to Adobe RGB you embed the Adobe RGB profile. Same principle: the profile is a description of the actual color space.

You don't experiment with profiles. Only one profile is appropriate: the correct one. Everything else is wrong.

I think this whole misconception happens because people misunderstand how profiles work. They don't do anything. A profile is a map, a description, and just like a real map it has to correspond to the actual landscape.

[Mitchell84]

Thanks for the education on this. I think I understand a little more now, especially what that embedding option does when I export the file as a SRGB.