Quality Images Require Color Management

Submit Your Best Efforts in Print Competition

A week ago I sat with a panel of judges at the annual Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) print competition. In this competition, each photographer at a very minimum would like to receive an accolade acknowledging “good professional quality work”.

There are many prints which for various reasons do not receive this accolade. It is saddest however, when an entry loses points solely because there is an off color cast to the image or the flesh tone, or the image is too light, or too dark, all of which is reflects a lack of professional color management in the photographers work flow. The image otherwise might have been quite acceptable.

There is a solution to this. X-Rite is the global leader in color science and technology and as such serves a range of industries, including printing, packaging, photography, graphic design, video, automotive, paints, plastics, textiles, dental and medical.

X-Rite includes in it’s mix devices designed specifically to solve color management problems for photographers. These devices include the Color Checker, to create custom profiles for your camera and ColorMunki and the i1 extreme to calibrate your display, and create custom profiles for your printer, so you can see EXACTLY what you are going to print. Even if your work is printed by a professional lab, the cost of your production is decreased significantly if the lab does not have to color correct your images. Simply by calibrating your display you will able to view the colors, and densities you are actually working with. The ColorMunki is very simple to use. Within minutes the wizard will walk you through the calibration process. Your images are now ready for your final touch before going to your clients – or to competition.

If you are going to spend the money to have prints prepared for competition and pay the entry fee on each one, I would hope that you are submitting the best and most professional images you can create. It will be very difficult to do this without having a professional color managed work flow which means at the very least a frequently calibrated monitor.

For more information on the color management devices available to you, go to: X-Rite.com