Here, I want to introduce you to the topic of color management. And I also want to share with you two simple steps that you can take in order to have more accurate color in your overall workflow. So for starters, what is color management? Well, color management refers to the way that we work with and manage color and also how we can communicate that color on different devices. Let's say how we can view this picture on our monitor, and also how we can send that image to the printer so that the color that were seeing on our monitor can be accurately reproduced, say, on a printer.
In other words, color management, it's all about clarity. It's about clarifying communication between multiple devices. And you know, there are some things that we can do in Photoshop in order to ensure that we have good color management practices. Before we even begin to work in Photoshop, there are two things that I recommend you do in order to ensure that you have more accurate color. Let's go ahead and talk about those. The first one is Monitor Calibration, the second one has to do with the Ambient Lighting that you have in your studio or your office.
Let's talk about Monitor Calibration first. Monitor Calibration is really important, and what you can do is you can use a device in order to calibrate your monitor. I'll actually be doing this later in this chapter. But I just want to introduce the topic here. You can use a device like this, the ColorMunki. This is the one that I use on my own monitors. This is a Colorimeter which measures the color on your monitor. In other words, what it does is it allows you to accurately create a profile which describes and displays the color on your monitor.
That way you can be certain that the color that you're seeing can be reproduced on different devices. The other thing that we need to do is to make sure that we have good ambient lighting in our studio or our offices. Typically, the light sources that we gravitate towards are really warm. Well, those light sources are inviting and sometimes beautiful, yet the trick is, is that all of that warm yellow light will be bouncing off of your walls and reflecting on your monitor. Therefore, when you're staring at a color on your monitor, what looks like white will actually look a little bit yellow.
It'll really skew your overall perspective. So what you want to do is you want to get a light source which is daylight balanced, and you can do this by purchasing really expensive light sources like this one here, or you can just go to your local hardware store and look for a light bulb which says that it's daylight balanced. Now initially when you first start working with a light source like this, it'll seem a little bit too neutral, maybe even a bit sterile. But eventually you'll come to enjoy and appreciate it because it will give you a really neutral and clean color palette so that you can then more accurately analyze and view the color on your monitor.
All right. Well, after having set up these two things, what we need to do next is take a look at how we can manage color when working in Photoshop. Let's talk about that in the next movie.
Author
Released
4/26/2012The course details the features and techniques behind enhancing and retouching photos, preparing them for print and online publishing, and much more. Chris demonstrates how to make basic edits in Camera Raw, develop and save color profiles, work with layers and selections, tone and sharpen, and retouch images while retaining their natural character.
Chris also shares some creative tips and project ideas, such as converting a photo to black-and-white and enhancing a portrait with hand-painted masks. The course also covers workflow details, such as organizing images in Bridge and Mini Bridge, optimizing Photoshop preferences, and calibrating your monitor.
- Getting started with Bridge and Mini Bridge
- Setting up color and performance preferences
- Calibrating your monitor
- Improving images with the basic controls in Camera Raw
- Creating, aligning, and organizing layers
- Using masks for removing or blending images and for sharpening
- Working with vibrancy, hue, and saturation controls
- Enhancing color and tone with Levels
- Using Curves and masks to enhance brightness, color, and tone
- Mastering the art of blending modes
- Correcting and replacing color
- Burning and dodging
- Converting to black and white
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Related Courses
-
The Practicing Photographer
with Ben Long39h 2m Beginner -
Photoshop CC 2015 Essential Training
with Julieanne Kost12h 27m Beginner -
Photography Foundations: Composition
with Ben Long5h 29m Intermediate -
Deke's Techniques
with Deke McClelland154h 49m Intermediate
-
Introduction
-
Welcome55s
-
-
1. Strategies for Learning
-
2. Getting Started with Bridge and Mini Bridge
-
Adding metadata and keywords4m 47s
-
Renaming images1m 45s
-
Working with Mini Bridge4m 36s
-
3. Color Settings and Preferences
-
Modifying zoom preferences4m 20s
-
Changing HUD brush options3m 41s
-
Opening up documents in tabs4m 11s
-
Choosing cursor preferences5m 14s
-
4. Foundations of Color Management
-
Introducing color profiles5m 17s
-
Setting up your studio1m 59s
-
5. Getting Started with Photoshop
-
Introducing the Tools panel4m 53s
-
-
6. Understanding Digital Images
-
Introducing image resizing3m 42s
-
Resizing images effectively3m 48s
-
7. Working in Camera Raw
-
What is Camera Raw?2m 47s
-
-
8. Utilizing Layers
-
Introducing layers2m 22s
-
Working with layer opacity3m 29s
-
Aligning layers1m 32s
-
Creating new layers4m 53s
-
Organizing layers2m 31s
-
Adding layer style effects5m 28s
-
Creating a clipping mask6m 50s
-
Targeting and moving layers2m 13s
-
-
9. Making Selections
-
Using the three lasso tools4m 56s
-
10. Using the Masking Panel
-
Introducing masking1m 14s
-
-
11. Adding Custom Borders
-
Using prebuilt borders4m 13s
-
12. Improving Your Images with Adjustments
-
13. Using Levels to Correct and Enhance
-
Working with auto levels3m 36s
-
Creative tip: checking in2m 38s
-
-
14. Making Color and Tone Adjustments with Curves
-
15. The Art of Blending Modes
-
Using blending shortcuts2m 4s
-
16. Correcting Color
-
17. Enhancing Colors
-
Creative tip: shoot more1m 37s
-
18. Burning and Dodging
-
19. Converting to Black and White
-
The power of black and white4m 14s
-
-
20. Working with Filters
-
Introducing Smart Filters3m 36s
-
Applying Smart Filters6m 20s
-
Working with Tilt-Shift Blur3m 52s
-
-
21. Removing Noise
-
22. Basic Image Cleanup
-
Basic portrait retouching3m 15s
-
Brightening the eyes2m 30s
-
Retouching selected areas5m 27s
-
23. Correcting Distortion and Perspective
-
24. Combining Multiple Images
-
25. Sharpening Your Images
-
Working with Smart Sharpen6m 17s
-
Using Unsharpen Mask4m 49s
-
-
26. Getting Your Images Online
-
Sharpening for the web3m 5s
-
Creating a web gallery5m 49s
-
27. Desktop Printing
-
Adjusting printer settings3m 43s
-
28. Working with Video
-
Exporting a project2m 15s
-
Conclusion
-
Goodbye35s
- Mark as unwatched
- Mark all as unwatched
Are you sure you want to mark all the videos in this course as unwatched?
This will not affect your course history, your reports, or your certificates of completion for this course.
CancelTake notes with your new membership!
Type in the entry box, then click Enter to save your note.
1:30Press on any video thumbnail to jump immediately to the timecode shown.
Notes are saved with you account but can also be exported as plain text, MS Word, PDF, Google Doc, or Evernote.
Share this video
Embed this video
Video: Exploring two simple steps for more accurate color