Calibrating My Monitor in Windows 11 Questions...

[Cynthia372629184fz6]

Hi All,

I'm trying to calibrate my monitor in Windows 11. I downloaded AdobeRGB1998.icc and set this as my Device Profile in Windows Color System Defaults (see screen shot).

(I did this because I plan to Assign the Adobe RGB 1998 color profile to a digital painting I created in Photoshop and it makes sense to me that the monitor and document should have the same profile.  I realize I should have had an assigned color profile before I did the work, and embedded it, but I am just learning and didn't have one, so am doing it now. [doc specs say color profile is untagged RGB at present] I want people who purchase this art file to be able to print professionally and use it for screens and from advice in another post,  this seems the best option for my painting at this point - as long as it looks good on a calibrated monitor.) 

When I go to Display Color Calibration and click 'Next' I get the following popup: This display currently uses a wide-gamut color profile. The Display Calibration will create a color profile with a conventional gamut which may be a poor fit for this display and result in distorted color appearance. Do you want to continue anyway? (see screen shot 2)

Should I continue to calibrate with current settings?

or

Should I not be using the AdobeRGB1998.icc for my device profile?

Any replies genuinely appreciated!

[Cynthia372629184fz6]

Part Two: I cannot afford a calibration device/software and will be using test images online to validate my calibration, namely : the ones here. 

[D Fosse]

What monitor do you have? What specific model?

The monitor profile's sole purpose is to describe your monitor's actual and current behavior. The profile is a map, and like any map, it has to correspond to the actual terrain. A calibrator measures your monitor, and that's why people use calibrators.

The document profile has nothing to do with this. These two are totally independent from each other, that's the whole point of color management in the first place.

I still get the feeling that you didn't read my posts in your other thread. You don't assign Adobe RGB to your file just because you want to. That will be wrong if the file wasn't created in and as Adobe RGB.

In short, you need to slow down a bit here. Don't do anything until you have these basic concepts clear. It's not complicated. Most people who get into trouble do so because they think they need to do something when they shouldn't.

[Cynthia372629184fz6]

@D Fosse

I did read the replies in my other thread, several times. Evidently I didn't understand them.

I had picked Adobe RGB to Assign because you said:"CMYK is a completely different animal. I would recommend that you do not go there. Keep it RGB." and "For inkjet printing, Adobe RGB is universally preferred and will be accepted everywhere. It translates well to most inkjet print profiles." As well as because NB said, "you should go to Edit > Assign Profile and choose from the list you'll see (start with sRGB or Adobe RGB)

When you said, "it tells you which profile to assign: the one you had set as working RGB when you created the file. That's the color space it was created in." I didn't know what you were referring to by 'it'. And I didn't know what working space I had been in when I created the piece.

I went back and read all the replies again and I think now you were referring to the Color Settings that were specified for the document when you said "it". Because these settings are applied even when "Do Not Manage Color" is selected during new document creation? If this is so, the image was created in the one of the working spaces shown there. I'm thinking it is the RGB working space listed (not the CYMK one) as the current doc specs say Untagged RGB? That would mean the working space was sRGB IE61966-2.1 during painting.

If I now understand things correctly, I should assign the image the sRGB IE61966-2.1 color profile as this is the working space it was created in. Have I finally got it?

But for ease of printing purposes, from what you said, Adobe RGB, would be a better profile to have.

1. Is there any reason I should not convert it to Adobe RGB once sRGB IE61966-2.1 has been assigned? Other than it might not look as good and need some more editing on a properly calibrated monitor...
2. Also, once I embed the color profile, can it still be converted?

I'm sorry for taking so long to grasp this. I really do consider your time and knowledge valuable, as well as that of all who help in this forum, and very much appreciate you sharing it.

REGARDING MONITOR CALIBRATION:_______________________________________________________________________

My monitor is a S200HQL/Nitro AN515-55 Acer Monitor

It is my second connected monitor (connected to my laptop with a cable) It is the only one set to display any image (the monitors are not mirroring/duplicated) and it is set as my "main display" in Windows/System/Display settings. (see screen shot)

This morning I tried to calibrate again, and did not receive the pop-up question regarding gamut width and potential poor display if I continued. So I calibrated it.

(The monitor still has the Adobe Device Profile I gave it.)

The profile associated with the device in Windows Color Management now reads: sRGB display profile with display hardware configuration data derived from calibration - CalibrationDisplayProfile-1.cc (see screen shot)

I looked at the Lagom LCD monitor test pages online and it does not seem to be displaying as accurately as it could be.

Unfortunately, I cannot move the arrows in my monitor's display adjustment menu popup. I have posted in the Acer forums for help with this. You can see what the menu looks like in the monitor's instruction manual. (screen shot) I was intend to adjust it slightly to make the test pictures look more as it says they should.

So now...

3. Should I revert the monitor's device profile to it's default? (from what you said, it won't help having it this way...

4. What else should I be considering to make my monitor display more accurately?

Thank you!

(Please recall I cannot afford to do this with professional devices/software.)

[D Fosse]

Yes. If your PS working space was sRGB IEC61966-2.1 when you made the file, then that's the profile you need to assign.

Once you have assigned that profile, it gets embedded with the file and will override the working space. So from this point, the working space no longer matters, and the file will be displayed correctly on any machine with any working space. The embedded profile always takes precedence.

You can convert to Adobe RGB if you wish - first assign sRGB, then convert to Adobe RGB - but

there's no point if you're not going to do any more work on it. The file you have is in the sRGB gamut now, and will still be that, even if you convert to a bigger color space.However, it will give you more headroom for further work.

For web it should always be sRGB. So if a primary output is web, you'll make everything easier by just keeping your original sRGB. But to be really to the point here - unless you have a particular reason to go to Adobe RGB, don't do it.

Your monitor is an sRGB-type standard gamut monitor. It's native color space is close to sRGB.

As I said, the monitor profile needs to be a description of the monitor's actual behavior. So if you're not using a calibrator to accurately measure it, but just use a standard profile, then sRGB is the closest. It won't be entirely accurate, but fairly close.

So - use sRGB as monitor profile. Using Adobe RGB here would be completely wrong. It would result in a very desaturated image on screen.

[Cynthia372629184fz6]

Good to know what to do with my image file. I learned a lot from this.

Thank you for your generosity of spirit and expertise.

And it appears I can afford to get a pre-owned Spyder display calibrator from Ebay to use with free DisplayCal software. So will be improving my visuals somewhat!

One last thing: For future digital paintings, which I want to be easily printable at professional shops, would Adobe RGB be good to begin with? Then, to make a version of the file for customers to use on screens, convert the work to sRGB?

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can keep Adobe RGB master files, and send that to print, as long as you convert to sRGB for web output.

Adobe RGB is a larger color space, so it can contain colors of higher saturation. A printer can reproduce some of these high-saturation colors (not all!), so it may well be worthwhile. But you can't see them on your screen. Your monitor is a standard gamut model, and what it can reproduce is limited to the smaller sRGB gamut. More expensive monitors, known as wide gamut monitors, can reproduce the full Adobe RGB.

When you have an Adobe RGB file, and either convert to sRGB, or view them on a standard gamut monitor, those high saturation colors are clipped to the smaller sRGB gamut. It will generally look identical, but with the exception of those areas of high saturation colors.

As for a calibrator, I can guarantee you that you won't look back. Before you get one, you're just focused on what it costs, thinking you can get by without. But when you have it, you start realizing what it does to your work. It gives you confidence, and that's worth a lot more than whatever you paid. Knowing that you can trust what you see on screen changes your whole perspective.