What about the calibration of monitor, scanner,
and printers?
Every scanner sees an image differently. Color and
dynamic range vary from scanner to scanner and from image to image.
ICC profiles are needed for each scanner to adjust to the range
of the transparency and the type of original film used in the
camera. They are also used to adjust the way each scanner sees
color. These profiles are added to the image data as the transparency
is scanned by the Tango into Newcolor LAB color space to ICC standards.
Working in LAB or LCH while scanning allows for the most precise
color correction. When working with color negatives, the ability
to capture 16-bit color helps us obtain better-quality digital
data. This allows for better gray balance and better color rendition
when converting into an 8-bit color space for printing.
The digital file must be viewed on very high quality
monitors.Our monitors are Apple Cinema Displays, calibrated to
ICC standards. This means that, unlike normal monitors, we can
view an image at any time and know that we are seeing accurate
color, density, and sharpness.
All ICC profiles for scanners and prints are made
in our lab. We use an X-Rite DPT-41 spectrophotometer and CompassProfile
software by Praxisoft for the Chromira and Onyx Graphics profiling
software for the inkjet printers.
We have nine high-end Apple and Intel-based workstations
that are constantly upgraded to the latest hardware and software.
