Okay, you’ve captured your images. Next you’d like to see them look good on your computer monitor.

Your first step here is to set your monitor temperature and gamma (contrast range).
We recommend setting your monitor temperature (or white point) to 6500?K. This is a good neutral temperature for
most purposes. If you are working with a Mac using OSX, you’d go from your Apple menu to System Preferences and
click on Displays to adjust the white point of your monitor to 6500?K (if you have an iMac, this adjustment may not be
possible). If you have a PC, you’d either use the controls on your monitor or right-click on your display to bring up the
Display Properties, click on Settings, click on Advanced and go forward from there (depending on what kind of
monitor and video card you have). Higher Temperatures give you a more blue colour, lower temperatures give a more
yellow colour. The preference is a temperature that gives you a more neutral colour.

Set your gamma to 2.2. This is the standard for PCs and LCD monitors. We used to recommend 1.8 (the old Mac CRT
standard) when most people used CRT monitors instead of LCD screens. Both sRGB and Adobe RGB from your camera
settings are set to work with a standard white point of 6500?K and a gamma of 2.2.

What about Monitor Calibrators?
Over time, the colours on monitors drift. If you want to ensure that your monitor shows consistent color, invest in a
monitor calibrator. These devices (which sometimes look like hockey pucks) read the colors coming from your monitor
(based on your ambient lighting), compare them with what the colours should be, and create a Colour Profile for your
monitor. There are a lot of good monitor calibrators out there. We like the Eye-One from X-Rite. For more information
about the Eye-One and other monitor calibrators, visit our friends at devine imaging. Calibrate your monitor regularly.

What about viewing conditions?
Heres the easy part: Avoid bright colours for your desktop image or screensaver. If your screen is a fluorescent purple
colour it is difficult (if not impossible) to judge the colours of your image. Neutral Grey is better. The not so easy part
is viewing your images in an area that has consistent light level and colour temperature. Sunlight from windows will
affect the colour throughout the day in a room, so keep shades or curtains closed or, if possible, work in a windowless
room. Neutral coloured walls and ceilings are better than bright or dark colours.