The basics

368 ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
FINELY CRAFTED OUTPUT
14.05 Calibrating your screen – Adobe Gamma
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 | Diffi culty level – Intermediate
Related techniques – 14.04–14.08 | Tools used – Adobe Gamma
The profi le that is included with your screen drivers is based on the average characteristics of
all the screens produced by the manufacturer. Individual screens will display slightly different
characteristics even if they are from the same manufacturer and are the same model number.
Add to this the fact that screens’ display characteristics change as they age and you will start to
understand why Adobe packaged a monitor calibration utility with Elements.
Designed to account for these age and screen-to-screen differences the Adobe Gamma utility
provides a way for users to calibrate their monitor and in the process write their own personal ICC
screen profi le. The program provides a step-by-step wizard that sets the black and white points of
the screen, adjusts the overall color and controls the contrast of the mid tones. When completed
these settings are saved as an ICC profi le that Adobe Gamma loads each time the computer is
switched on.
In Windows Adobe Gamma is located in control panels or the Program Files/Common Files/
Adobe/Calibration folder on your hard drive. For Macintosh users with OS9 and Elements 1.0
and 2.0, select the option from the Control Panels section of the Apple menu. OSX users should
use Apple’s own Display Calibrator Assistant as Adobe Gamma is not used in the new system
software. Regular calibration using this utility will keep the output from your workfl ow consistent
and will also help to ensure that what you see on screen will be as close as possible to what others
with calibrated systems also see. Keep in mind though that for the color management to truly
work, all your friends or colleagues who will be using your images must calibrate their systems as
well.
Before you start the calibration process make sure that your monitor has been turned
on for at least 30 minutes to warm up.
Step 1 >> Check that your computer
is displaying thousands (16-bit) or
millions (24-bit) of colors.
Book resources at: www.adv-elements.com
Step 2 >> Remove colorful or
patterned backgrounds from your
screen.
Step 3 >> Ensure that light from the
lamps in the room, or from a nearby
window, is not falling on the screen
surface.