Calibrating a Monitor using the X-Rite EyeOne Display2 System
Before you use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, or any other digital imaging program, you must have confidence in the accuracy of your screen. I put these tutorial videos together to demonstate how I use the X-Rite EyeOne Display2 monitor calibration system. The EyeOne is my favorite calibration system, and I use it monthly on my MacBook Pro. In my office, I use the EyeOne to calibrate my Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor. Yes, I am happy running a Dell monitor with my Mac!
Although these videos were made on a Mac, most of the material that I cover here works in the same way with any Operating System and with any calibration program. Regardless of brand, there are two parts to the calibration process. The first step is to get your monitor as close as possible to its perfect settings using the screen’s physical controls. Technically, this is the calibration phase of the process.
Once the monitor is “calibrated,” our software will test it for color accuracy and then build a “profile” which corrects for any remaining discrepancy. This sounds scary, but as you will see in my videos software like the EyeOne’s makes all of the parts of this process push-button easy. The best part is that once the software finishes its routine that our new profile will be saved into your computer’s startup routine. Once it is into the system startup, you can turn on the computer and get right to work feeling confident that your screen is giving you an accurate representation of your digital image.
This first tutorial movie is intended for photographers who are using any type of external monitor except those made by Apple. If you are trying to calibrate a Mac laptop screen, or if you are using an Apple Display, skip this movie and watch the second one.
Calibrating an External Monitor with the X-Rite EyeOne (Mac) from David Marx on Vimeo.
Photographer’s trying to calibrate Mac laptop screen, or an Apple Display, need to poke around in their System Preferences before they run the Eye-One application. Calibrating Apple screens is just a tiny bit harder because they have so few external buttons.
Go > System Preferences > Displays > Color > Calibrate to find the controls that I demonstrate in this movie. Once you have found these controls, we need to set the Mac’s display calibration program to a white point of 6500K and to a gamma of 2.2. Laptop users should also turn off the “automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes” option, and leave it off, before calibrating.
Calibrating a Mac Laptop with the X-Rite EyeOne2 System from David Marx on Vimeo.
For more information on calibration, and on my favorite monitors, please read this post.
Filed Under: Getting Started • Hardware • Tutorials • Workflow
About the Author: David Marx has an extensive knowledge of digital photography and is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop and in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. David is a talented instructor and his entertaining teaching style works for students of all skill levels. He has been teaching digital photography and image enhancement with Adobe Photoshop since 2002. In addition, David’s sports and landscape images are often featured on the web and in outdoor sports publications.
In 2009, David Marx led digital photography programs for the 
Thank you very much for the videos, they are soo helpful.
[...] than explain how to do this process, I will point you to another good set of videos by David Marx. Watch the first video for non-Apple monitors, and the second for Apples, including their [...]
Thank you Jedi.
thank so much. i just calibrated my monitor and it was truly painless. this would have taken me so much longer without your help. thanks again. chad
Excellent!
I was wondering about macbook pro’s and led back lights etc. I’d always set my screen to luminance of 90 as it was recommended… but it felt way too dark. You’re settings and guide have helped me out no end!
Thanks.
I’m using a PC (Windows XP) with the Apple Display, how should I calibrate it?
Thanks in advance.
Dear Kie,
Hmmm…. I think my advice is to follow all the usual calibration steps. Even though it’s an Apple Display we still want a gamma of 2.2, 6500 K for our white point, and a target luminance of something around 120. I believe the only physical control you will have is the monitors brightness buttons. We’ll have to set everything else using our calibration software and perhaps the software that controls your video card. Really, you have so few buttons that this should be easy.
Best of luck,
David
p.s. If anyone else has 1st hand advice here please chime in.
Hey Dave
I countlessly find this website so helpful and I was so grateful for this video. Thank You!!
Dave,
I appreciate you taking the time to show how to “correct” for the lack of controls on Apple monitors. My question is, that I have heard that for graphic designers and photographers that the kelvin needs to be set to 5000K. I tried this and it really turned my screen yellow. In your video, you recommend 6500K which is much whiter. What are your thoughts on this? I am printing to a Epson 9880. I print through Photoshop CS3 and I make sure that I load the paper profiles from Epson before I print however, the color I am receiving is all over the place. I did calibrate my monitor with the “spyder” however, that product made things worse. I am considering buying the Xrite product after hearing so may people rave about it. I appreciate any help. Thanks again…
Dear Spencer,
The ” magic numbers” (Kelvins) are a constant source of confusion. For light sources, like a photographer’s light table, the 5000 K setting is the right choice, but for monitors 6500 K is more neutral. I’ve given up trying to understand why and just accept them as separate, independent measurements of neutral white. Different types of device = different numbers.
If you would like quality advice on this topic I strongly recommend reading Bruce Fraser’s Real World Color Management
.
None of this though directly relates to your printing troubles. How you calibrate, or even if you calibrate, your monitor has nothing to do with the color that comes out of your printer. The screen and the printer are completely independent devices– one creates beams of light, the other dots of ink.
When you calibrate a monitor you are “truing it up” so that it accurately displays the colors in your image. When you use an accurate profile with an inkjet printer you are using the chemical formula that, in theory, will create the closest possible match to the colors in your image. But these two– the monitor calibration and the printer profile–are totally unrelated since each devices creates an entirely different type of output.
I am going to give you some links that might help with your printing troubles, but I must make it clear that I do not own an inkjet printer. I HATE INKJET PRINTING. Unlike many of esteemed my colleagues, I believe that inkjet printing is a wasteful, expensive process and that most photographers are better off sending their files out to a professional lab. (Again, this is just my opinion based on five frustrating years working with Epson and Canon printers and my totally lack of interest in the paper surface, matting, and framing as “part of my art” debate.)
If you really want top-quality inkjet prints I recommend taking a Digital Fine Printing Workshop like this from the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. If a workshop is beyond your budget then I recommend reading George DeWolfe’s Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop
.
You might also find these tutorials helpful. Some were written for older versions of Photoshop, but they are all still relevant.
best of luck,
David Marx
David,
I very much appreciate the video on calibrating the MacBook Pro display with the X-Rite colorimeter. It’s just what I needed and answers my questions. Thanks!
Is the X rite 2 Ok for calibating a Front Projector LCD and a DLP TV.
Thanks
Dear Ralph,
TV’s are not my specialty but I found an interesting press release about this topic.
http://www.xrite.com/company_press_room.aspx?News=583
David
The best explanation I have found to date. Thank you David.
Dear Carl,
You are very welcome. Thanks to you and Beth for helping to make the Behind the Lens Photography Weekend at Blackberry Farm so much fun.
–
David
I have a 27″ iMac…. Does this tutorial apply to an iMac monitor too?
Candace,
Many of the steps are similar. However, the iMac displays don’t have quite as many control options as external displays. You should still be able to follow the X-Rite steps to get beneficial results.
-Scott
thanks for your quick response. this is where i’m getting stuck, will you read and see if you have any input:
i am trying the advanced option (however, i would love to use the easy version for it’s easiness, but i feel like i should know more about the settings and keep it consistent with the advanced option). i have my brightness all the way down (someone told me to do that) and then when i try to set the luminance – it displays my “target” luminance at 120 (which is what i have it set at; i know in the tutorial it says 110 for the laptop; some other youtube video said to start at 90; so anyways, i just went with the software’s recommended 120)… BUT my “current” luminance is showing 214. The brightness is all the way down, so I can’t adjust it to bring it down anymore in order to get it in the green area.
what do i do? any suggestions?
thank you so much for your time in this matter. i have searched and searched for help – i have just started my own photography business and i just want to feel comfortable with my calibration. my photos are “ok”; but i have just bought the calibration software & i just want it to be top-notch.
THANKS!
Candace,
As with many things photography and computer-related, you’ll find a plethora of opinions on the correct way to do things. Here’s my two cents on calibrating the iMac:
Use the easy option. The Advanced Option gives you a number of settings which you won’t be able to change on your iMac’s display.
Before you calibrate, setup your workspace how you’d like it. Avoid direct sunlight on or behind your display. Ideally, the lighting in your workspace shouldn’t change much throughout the day (but, honestly, who likes to work with no windows?!?). Set the brightness on your display where you’d like it to be. What’s comfortable for you. All the way down is definitely not right.
Once you get things set the way you want them, now is the time to run the calibration software. Try the easy option. See if it turns out well for you. If not, you can try the advanced option. Just be sure you read the on-screen instructions very carefully…some of them are a bit tricky.
And my final note: Monitor to printer calibration is TOUGH. Anyone who tells you it’s easy is trying to sell you something. It’s a back and forth procedure at the best of times. Adjust, print, compare, adjust, print, compare, repeat, etc.
Best,
Scott
thank you very much scott. i will do just that.
candace
Good deal. Let us know how it goes, Candace.
Best of luck,
Scott
David….
I recently purchased an HP LP2475w monitor for my Mac Pro. I’ve always had trouble calibrating it so I tried your procedure – Med. White/Gamma 2.2/Luminance 199 – and I always wind up with a PINK screen because I wind up with limited control of the sliders. The only way I get anywhere near neutral is to set it for 6500K/2.2 gamma/contrast 100%, and use the EASY calibration. I usually also have to drop the brightness to about 95%. Can you explain why this is happening? I always have the feeling that I’m just not getting it done the way it should be. On top of that, certain reds are always a bit too vivid. Very frustrating.
Dear Mel,
Sorry about the delay. I think that I finally have an answer but you might not like it. I think that the problem is your calibrator. From what you have written I am guessing that you are using the i1Display2 or something like it from X-rite. If I am right about your calibration system then I think the trouble is that your colorimeter was not designed for wide-gamut displays!
If I am right then I too share in your pain. I just bought a Dell U2410, their version of a professional wide-gamut display, and have just learned that it is not compatible with my old i1Display 2 system. Doh!
For more on this please read this excellent post from digital photography expert Jay Kinghorn.
http://jaykinghorn.com/2010/03/31/tips-for-profiling-wide-gamut-monitors/
–
David
Hi David,
Thanks a lot for your video it helped a lot understanding the way calibration process works with the device.
However I think I have mixed results…
I’m using at the moment a Macbook pro 15” (aluminum body) and a 24″ LED Cinema Display after the process of calibration went through, first I have a feeling that 200 Luminance is a little bit too dark, but that’s maybe just me…
And when the calibration process everything seems more purpulish. The difference is mainly seen on blue. A good example is if you open facebook it’s stunning how more purple is the blue, or is it?
Is my device deffective?
Any thoughs on calibrating a LED Cinema Display?
Thanks
Dear Maxime,
This is one of those questions where I can’t give a definitive answer without seeing your screen. Did you go through the Mac’s internal color calibration system and set the gamma and white point for your monitor before using the i1Display calibrator? Are you using the most recent version of the i1Match software? I’m afraid that I can only make guesses at what went wrong but feel like you should be able to calibrate this system well with your equipment.
best of luck,
David
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