# Mac troubles... or not? help!



## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jul 19, 2014)

Ok mac users, I recently bought a MacBook pro (13" no retina display) and when I pulled all of the images I was in working on in lightroom 5 on my old Compaq laptop I noticed on the mac my images look much crisper and have more contrast then when I was viewing them on my Compaq in lightroom... So here's the problem, they look good to me without doing much of anything to a few shots, where as on my old laptop I would need to boost my contrast and warmth. So what to do?? Will my clients view their images in the same way I see them? Or will they look flat to them when on their own PC?? 
 Or was I over processing them on my Compaq due to such a low quality screen? Ugh. So confused.


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## Ysarex (Jul 19, 2014)

What hardware device did you use to calibrate the Compaq and what hardware device are you using to calibrate the MAC? As in: Amazon.com : X-Rite CMUNSML ColorMunki Smile : Computer Mice : Camera & Photo

Joe


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jul 19, 2014)

I never calibrated the Compaq and I haven't changed the factory settings on my mac yet. Is there a system I can use to calibrate on a more universal view point of images?


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## tirediron (Jul 19, 2014)

Linked to above.


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## Designer (Jul 19, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> I never calibrated the Compaq and I haven't changed the factory settings on my mac yet. Is there a system I can use to calibrate on a more universal view point of images?


You can't make a photograph look good on everybody's computer, so make them look good on yours after you make the adjustments.  

If you or anyone else is going to print them, that is where the colors must be completely accurate. 

The factory settings may look pretty good right now, but they might not be totally accurate, and you will still need to check and adjust periodically.


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## KmH (Jul 19, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> Is there a system I can use to calibrate on a more universal view point of images?


No.
Few, if any of your customers will have a calibrated display.

There are many different types of TFT-LCD displays. To name just a few:

There are computer displays that have a twisted nematic (TN) display panel.
There are parallel vertical alignment (PVA) display panels
There are in-plane switching (IPS) display panels.
Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some panels have LED backlights. Some have CCFL back lights.

Some panels can only display 6-bits of color, some can display 8-bits of color, and some can display 16-bits of color.

Next would be the mobile devices and the plethora of additional variables all those entail.

when Photoshop started using the Mercury Graphics Engine Adobe's minimum display requirements went up to 16-bot display capale computer screens.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jul 20, 2014)

So I figured out that mac has its own calibrator that I can tweak, I did my best to match my mac's screen to the desktop PC, my windows phone and my friends iPhone. They're all a shade off on contrast but i think its a good medium, also think it has a lot to do with the resolution. Because the iPhone had the poorest colors, next was my windows phone, then the desktop and finally my mac. So thanks for everyone's responses just hoping my clients see the images in a flattering way on their devices!


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## Light Guru (Jul 20, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> So I figured out that mac has its own calibrator that I can tweak, I did my best to match my mac's screen to the desktop PC, my windows phone and my friends iPhone.



Probably NOT the best thing to do. From my experience a uncalibrated mac screen is closer calibrated then that of screen connected to a windows machine or a mobile phone. 

When I've done calibrations on a iMac vs 3rd party display the iMac was MUCH closer to the calibration then the 3rd party display. 

Definitely get yourself a calibration device.


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## Designer (Jul 20, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> (1.)  I did my best to match my mac's screen to the desktop PC, ...
> (2.)  just hoping my clients see the images in a flattering way on their devices!



1. Unless you have already calibrated the PC display using an external third-party device, you have wasted your time.

2. As has been written above, there is no possible way that a file will look the same.  Unless they have both been recently calibrated using the exact same parameters (same device, same hardware, same type of display, same ambient room conditions, etc.).


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jul 20, 2014)

Designer said:


> AmberAtLoveAndInk said:
> 
> 
> > (1.)  I did my best to match my mac's screen to the desktop PC, ...
> ...



I didn't try to calibrate it to match the exact desktop, I calibrated it to where the image will still look about the same on a variety of devices, neglect a little more contrast between each device. I went through apple's calibrator and did the color sync test and it seems to look good now. I also did things the old fashion way and simply printed a picture out and then checked my calibration to look as similar to the printed image , yes I know that's not the professional way of doing things but I don't have the funds for a pro calibrating system and I have no knowledge of what a good one would even be. Thanks for everyone's input.


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## KmH (Jul 20, 2014)

This would be sufficient for calibrating computer displays.

$166.66 - X-Rite ColorMunki Display

Tutorials on Color Management & Printing


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## ruben_c (Jul 21, 2014)

I own an Spyder4Pro that is even cheaper. Also works fine. 
Both do the same job...


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## brettmorey (Jul 21, 2014)

I use the Spyder4Pro for both of my Macs and I really like it.


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