The Portland Metro Photographic News

At the risk of opening a can of worms, color management is a subject that needs to be addressed by every serious photographer.  I was reminded of this fact when reading the blog of a popular Internet photography author.  The article strongly suggested that color management was not something to be concerned about.  That opinion sent chills up my spine.  The contention was that camera, monitor and printer manufacturers color calibrate their products before leaving the factory, and that these devices would produce correct and consistent color right "out of the box."

For the casual family shooter, this viewpoint might have some validity.  But this is not the case for advanced photographers.

While it's true that these manufacturers take every precaution to ensure color accuracy, even they know there are tolerable production variations, varying sets of standards and, most certainly, changes in color and density renditions over the life of their products.  Car manufacturers came to the same realizations when they provided recommended "check ups" for the various components and systems in their automobiles.  Why do you take your car in to the shop every 3,000 miles or so?  Devices age and devices change.

The figure above illustrates my point.  Taken in an airplane just before take off, about 8 overhead LCD monitors can be easily seen.  They are ALL showing the same image.  It's also clear that NO two of these monitors are displaying the same colors.  It is likely that these monitors are identical, about the same age and from the same manufacturer.  They are ALL showing the same video from the same DVD player.  Yet each display is entirely different.  You see the same color rendition problem when you visit a large electronics store and walk into their TV or computer monitor demonstration area.  The colors vary from screen to screen in many of the TVs and monitors.

Although the effects are usually more difficult to see because the change happens over longer periods, photo printers are also subject to variation.  If you do not manage color, it highly likely that the picture you printed last year will look somewhat different (in terms of color and density) when printed this year.  Is this shift acceptable?  It depends on a photographer's quality requirements.  The problem is further compounded when you decide to print on a different paper or surface.  Each type of paper accepts ink differently and yields varying color/density renditions.  Each "batch" of paper has its own manufacturing run, and its own inherent color rendition characteristics.

Now add to the color management mix the different color spaces used by cameras, imaging software, monitors and printers and it becomes obvious that a way of synchronizing or calibrating the entire system is essential for accurate color results.

Components of any system are subject to change and the variabilities associated with their interactions.  Why would digital photographic devices and processing systems be any different?

If a photographer understands this change and is willing to accept these inevitable variations, then color management is not an issue.  If, however, color predictability and consistency of final images are important to a photographer, then color management is a significant concern.  It's for these photographers and their insistence on accuracy and predictability that color management tools are designed.  These calibration and ICC profile generation tools have become more stable, user-friendly and more reasonably priced over the past decade.  The mystery involved, the level of expertise required and the drudgery associated with the calibration process has been minimized to enable photographers to be the masters of their color environment.

There is no intention to continue this article with a lesson in color management.  That knowledge and training is abundantly available on the Internet and in workshops.  There is, however, a desire to be realistic about the need for color management in the workflow of today's serious photographers -- advanced amateurs and pros alike.  Maybe the future will bring a revolution in color management, and all devices in the digital photographic workflow will be self-monitoring and self-calibrating to a clear and established set of "across the board" industry standards.  But that isn't the reality today.

Your thoughts are always welcome on any topic in our "From the Editor" section.  Just drop an email to hub@pmpnonline.com.