- No discussion of color in the digital age
would be complete without talking about ways
to help make sure what you see on your monitor
is what you'll get when your works of design,
illustration and photography are
posted and printed, or WYSIWYG, as they call it.
Before we dive into this whole WYSIWYG thing,
just know that I can't be super specific with all my advice
since I don't know what kind of computers
and monitors you're using.
But that won't stop me from trying
to help you out here as best I can.
Starting with this solid piece of advice: calibrate.
The point of calibrating your monitors
and desktop printers is to get various machines
to conform to the same standards of color,
as much as possible anyway.
How do you do this?
It all depends on what kind
of computers and monitors you're using.
Look at your user manuals and/or
go online and find the information there.
Here are five specific things to keep in mind
when calibrating whatever monitors you're using.
First off, make sure you save your current
calibration settings before you start anything.
That way you can go back to these settings
if things start looking weird.
Second, calibrate your monitor under exactly
the lighting you normally work under.
Lighting conditions have big affect
on how color shows up on computer monitors.
Third, if you use both a laptop and a desktop computer,
know that the two probably show color
a bit differently from each other.
Do you best to calibrate both so they agree
with each other as much as possible.
Personally, I trust the color on my desktop monitor
more than on my laptop.
Even though I might work on layouts
and illustrations and photos on my laptop,
I'll always do my final color work using my desktop monitor.
Fourth, ask around and look around.
Ask experienced designers, illustrators
and photographers how they calibrate their monitors.
Also, look around and see how your web-posted layouts
and images look on other people's monitors.
This is one way to really quickly find out
if your monitor, for whatever reason, is out of sync
with the rest of the world's monitors.
And fifth, if color accuracy is especially critical
in your work, as it is for many photographers
and illustrators, then consider looking into
a professional-level monitor calibration device.
These can be pricey, but you just might need one
if you want to maximize the accuracy
and consistency of your color output.
You can search for the latest information
about these things online.
When I'm working on print jobs,
I use a high-quality inkjet printer.
The great thing about better-quality inkjet printers
is that many are able to print CMYK and spot colors.
These are the colors of the print industry,
very much in line with the way commercial inkjet machines
and printing presses print those colors.
So now, even when my monitor isn't quite telling me
the truth about the colors I'm using,
which does happen especially with certain colors,
I can confidently double check my work.
If you can't afford a good-quality inkjet printer,
you'll need to rely on the proofs
your print vendor gives you; proofs like this.
You'll always need to be willing to make adjustments
to your documents until you're satisfied
with the way those proofs look.
In fact, and this is important, even if you do
have a good-quality inkjet printer,
you still need to remember that your print vendor's proofs
are the ones to take most seriously.
That's because those are the proofs
the printing press operator is going to be
trying to match when your job is being run.
Most print vendors that I know,
they're more than willing to help designers like us
set up our documents for printing success.
So don't be shy about asking these people
for help if you need it.