Display Calibration (Windows 10)

Caution:

Windows 10 does not allow you to save a profile. You can go through the tutorial below but Susan Bonner recommends that you print the color pallette and then look at it with your faculty to judge the difference between the 2 so that you know how to simply turn down the brightness to be more like the prints.

Tutorial

Changing Your Display Settings

1. Download and print the Print safe color sheet on the printer you will be using. Keep the file on your hard drive in a place you'll remember it, you will need it later.

(right click image and select "save as")

2. Type "run" into the search bar on your Windows desktop and hit enter.

3. In the run window type "dccw" and hit enter.

This will bring up the color and brightness calibration menu.

4. Hit next until you get to the color calibration settings. (Ignore the sections on gamma and brightness, you wont be able to change these on any device with a imbedded default display. However, you can use these settings to calibrate an external monitor that has its own settings).

5. Open the print safe color sheet you downloaded earlier in another window.

6. Drag the color management window to the left side of the screen until it locks in place and prompts you to select another window.

7. Select the print safe color document. Your screen should now look like this:

8. Adjust the red green and blue sliders until the on screen colors match the document you printed earlier.

Final thoughts and tips.

• Display calibration is an important step in the production of any piece. if your display is calibrated incorrectly, then you run the risk of your piece looking awful on a display that is calibrated correctly.

• Calibrating your display is important, but no display is 100% accurate or Calibrated exactly like any other display. Because of this its very important to check your piece across multiple displays before publishing. Your goal is to make the piece looks as good as it can on as many displays as possible, as opposed to making it look awesome on one display and terrible on another.

• Never assume that your display is calibrated correctly. In fact, while making this tutorial, I discovered that my Cintiq display (that I was completely convinced was correct) was slightly too far into the red and blue spectrums.