Colour management consultancy training & advice - Leicester, UK Based in Leicester, we can provide you with independent colour management consultancy, advice and training services in Leicestershire, the UK East Midlands and throughout the UK. Colour management can contribute directly to your business bottom line. Our expertise originally stems from our own need to produce the highest quality fine art prints and accurate digital capture of images. We only accept the the very best in colour quality -- why shouldn't you? Reviews and articles - We have a large collection on this site, to help improve your understanding of the subject. Independent advice We do not directly sell hardware or software, so our independent advice and training works for you, and fits the needs of -your- business. We can demonstrate any of the many colour management devices and systems shown on this site. If you are not sure of why you should be getting into colour management, call on us for a short consultation, and if necessary we will come to your premises and show you some of the benefits and explain your options. Not sure about 'Soft Proofing' or why your prints don't look like they do on the screen? -- just ask. Keith Cooper is a member of X-Rite's 'Coloratti' "X-Rite's Coloratti includes the world's top professional photographers, a group whose vision, passion, leadership, and partnership are recognized and valued by X-Rite. Coloratti photographers are highly respected by their peers and are admired by up-and-coming professionals, enthusiasts, and students alike." Colour management advice and consultancy Colour management is not rocket science - with our help and training, you -can- do a lot of it yourself. Let us visit you and show how it's done. By not directly supplying colour management equipment, we ensure our independence and can show you all the options. For instance: We will -not- provide a regular monitor calibration service. It is our opinion that anyone who does is looking on you as an easy source of revenue. We -will- teach you how to do it yourselves and show you how to get the best from what you have got. We will -not- sell you printer profiles made on consumer grade equipment, that you could easily make yourself. We -will- help you do it yourself, and we also work with some of the countries leading profile makers who can provide you the very best in remote profiling. Training / education / seminars As well as specific colour management seminars and training about digital imaging technology, we also offer consultancy services covering specific areas of colour management. For seminars and presentations, Keith Cooper is happy to visit your own work location. Our seminars and presentations are tailored to your organisation's precise needs, and can include any number of attendees.

Why colour management? A lot of people are trying to bring an understanding of colour management to their business. The advantages, such as 'getting it right first time' can quickly translate into a quicker turnaround -- and increased profitability. However, there is still a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to how to best introduce such changes. We have many reviews (listed below) of the latest colour management equipment and software that you may find of use when comparing options - these reviews come from extensive use, and in many cases, a direct involvement in the development of the software and hardware. We can demonstrate the best use of any of these devices in our training. At Northlight Images we're passionate about helping people get colour right, and Keith Cooper has written many free articles and reviews on this site, that hopefully make things a bit clearer. How much do we charge? Our Training prices are listed on our main training page. We also offer a flat fee consultancy visit for professional photographers, at £75 (ex VAT and travel outside of Leicestershire). Give us a call and discuss what you want. Keith can, for example, look at your workflow and your equipment and suggest the best ways for you to benefit from improving your colour management [Please note that this is not a profiling service]. Remember that we, quite deliberately, don't sell hardware or software. If you need specialist advice also know a number of people who we regard as the top experts in their particular fields, and are happy to suggest them for certain advanced areas, such as some aspects of process management.

Colour management information on this site

General Colour Management

Adobe utility for printing profiling targets (CS5) with no colour management.
CMYK for photographers (1)
Some considerations when a client asks for images to be submitted in CMYK
CMYK for photographers (2) - Press management
An overview of colour management for when your work is destined for large scale printing.
Why don't my prints match my screen?
A short article showing why there is more to getting your prints to match your screen, than just calibrating your monitor. It's the vital first step, but you do need to consider some other factors for best results.
Why are my prints too dark?
One of the more common printing problems we get asked about. Addresses some of the steps you can take to produce more consistent prints.
Dark prints revisited - If you're having problems adjusting your monitor, Keith has some details of an experimental approach, using adjustment curve layers that may be of some help.
Choosing a working space
There are a number of popular choices for working colour space when editing images. Keith shows examples and discusses his personal choices for different applications. One size definitely does not fit all.
Room and office decoration and lighting for photo editing
Some information on what to consider when setting up a space to work on digital images and evaluate prints.
The very simple guide to 'what is colour mangement'.
Is the red in RGB the same as a London bus, or a UK Telephone box? A very short explanation of what colour management is, and why you use it.
Colour management introduction
Beware the colour management Tar Pit
Know what levels of colour management (and expense ;-) suit the needs of your work... A personal view from Keith covering some of the things it is good for, but also why you should be careful to understand why you are doing it in the first place.
Printer test images
Media settings and profiling for third party inks
Keith recently converted an Epson Stylus COLOR 1160 to third party inks. In describing the profiling of a this set-up with a third party glossy paper, he shows how that often neglected aspect of profiling -driver media settings- can make all the difference between a so-so print and one that he would be happy to send out as a sample to his commercial clients. Test images for media selection.
Adjusting your monitor 'by eye'
Not the best way, but better than nothing at all
Colour management and the web - why getting good colour on web sites is not as easy as you thought
Removing Adobe Gamma - Adobe Gamma is often installed by default on Windows PCs, this short note describes how to deactivate it.
Dual monitor profiling under Windows XP SP2 - A brief note on profiling and calibrating dual monitor systems under Windows XP SP2.
Camera Profiling for ACR with the DNG Profile Editor
Using a ColorChecker card, we've created custom camera profiles for the Ricoh GX200. Used for processing RAW camera files with Adobe Camera Raw. Applicable to any camera producing RAW files that can be opened in ACR.
Using the ColorMunki for black and white with QTR
A special version of our black and white test print for reading linearisation data for QTR
Using QTR and PrintFIX PRO for better black and white prints
By using the PrintFIX PRO to take readings from a greyscale test target, you can create luminance only icc profiles that can give a noticeable improvement to black and white print set-ups. It can even be used to improve the results from the likes of Epson's new 'advanced black and white' print settings.
Colour Management
Links to articles and sites we've found useful.
(Please do let us know if you find something useful that we've missed)

Equipment and software reviews

X-Rite (ex GretagMacbeth)

Setting up the SU-21 spectrophotometer on the iPF6450 Fitting the optional SU 21 spectrophotometer unit on a Canon iPF6450 24" printer.
i1Profiler - scanner profiling review - The latest V1.4 update to i1Profiler adds scanner profiling, using a range of specialist targets for film and flat bed scanners. The review shows how the output of even a basic desktop scanner can be greatly improved.
ColorMunki Smile - Review of the basic level monitor profiler.
i1Photo Pro 2 - Review of the i1Pro 2 for printer profiling.
i1Basic Pro 2 - Review of the i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer kit.
Using i1Profiler to measure QTR linearising targets.
Using the i1Pro 2 for linearising B&W printing - Making use of ColorPort and QTR.
ColorMunki Display - Review of the monitor calibrator from X-Rite and an explanation of why monitor profiling is a good idea.
i1Display Pro - review of new monitor and projector calibration colorimeter.
i1 Profiler - overview and links to information and more detailed reviews of functionality.
i1 Profiler - Printer profiling (RGB)
i1 Profiler - Monitor calibration
ColorChecker Passport - test card for photography. Also allows DNG camera profiles to be built for the Adobe ACR raw converter
i1iSis OBA compensation - Optical brighteners can cause problems in profiling some papers. Article shows why, and reviews X-rite's approach to building corrected profiles for different lighting conditions with the iSis.
ColorMunki Printer profiling - A detailed review looking at the ColorMunki ICC printer profiling system from X-Rite. This expands on this particular aspect of our initial review of the ColorMunki. Covers making and optimising printer profiles, with notes on profile evaluation.
ColorMunki - an initial review of this printer/projector/monitor calibration/profiling device.
i1 Beamer - A software upgrade and hardware attachment device for using the X-rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer for digital projector profiling
i1 Display 2 - Monitor calibration and profiling device from GretagMacbeth - also allows ambient light measurement. (see also updated Pantone version)
i1 Match update - updated monitor calibration functionality
i1 LT (i1Basic) - review
Basic X-rite i1 spectrophotometer package for monitor calibration, light measurement and basic printer profiling.
i1 XTreme - review
Complete i1 profiling package, printers, cameras, projectors, scanners.
i1 Design
A Spectrophotometer and software for monitor calibration, light measurement and basic printer profiling.
Measuring ruler - update to measuring ruler for the i1 design.
i1 scanner profiling
Using the Eye One with a scan target to get better results form your film or flatbed scanner.
i1 Camera profiling with the SG colorchecker
i1 printer profiling
More advanced printer profiling with the Eye One.
i1 profile editing - The Eye One Match software from GretagMacbeth (now X-rite) now allows you to edit icc printer profiles. How easy is it to use, and what things should you consider before editing profiles.
The Eye-One iO automated scanning table - review - An automated solution to improving the quality and accuracy of target measurement for printer profiles when using the i1 (ex Eye One) spectrophotometer.
i1 iSis - advanced measuring device for printer profiling.
An automated whole chart reader for printer profiling test charts. A3 and A4 versions provide spectrophotometer readings for both UV and UV-Cut (filtered) measurements.

June 2012 - X-Rite are shipping updated i1Pro 2 with i1Profiler 1.3
Reviews: i1Pro 2 Basic - i1Pro 2 Photo

April 2010 X-Rite ship V1.0 of i1 Profiler - Full i1 Profiler reviews and information

May 2010 X-Rite annouce new profiling software for Q4 2010 - i1 Match and ProfileMaker Pro will be superseded by i1Profiler later in 2010. We have some notes and press info in the X-rite information section of the Northlight blog. For purchases after April 1st 2010 here will be free upgrades, along with other offers when the software is available.

Sept. 2008 X-Rite and the i1 range

From Sept. the range is simplified to two options. The functionality is the same as we have reviewed, but exactly what you get varies. As a result of this rationalisation, the i1Photo, i1Photo SG, i1Proof and i1XT have all been discontinued, and the i1 range now consists of:

The i1Basic - i1Pro measuring device with monitor profiling software
The new i1XTreme - professional monitor, RGB and CMYK printer, camera, scanner and projector profiling, plus profile editing

With the i1XTreme you can calibrate and profile:

Monitors - LCD, CRT and laptops
RGB output devices
CMYK output devices
Scanners
Digital projectors
Digital cameras*

Datacolor (aka ColorVision)

Spyder4TV HD - Review of Datacolor's Spyder based TV and home cinema calibration kit.
Spyder4Express - Review of basic monitor profiling and why you need it.
Spyder4Pro - Review of monitor profiling and calibration package (multiple monitor support)
Spyder4Elite - Full review of the (multiple) monitor and projector profiler from Datacolor.
SpyderCheckr - Colour test target for creating camera adjustment profiles for better colour reproduction.
Spyder3Elite V4.0 - Review of the improved and updated software for the Spyder 3 elite - Monitor and Projector calibration.
Spyder3express - review of Datacolor's basic calibration equipment and software
Spyder3Print SR - Full review of the latest printer profiling system from Datacolor. Updated spectrocolorimeter allows for strip and patch reading.
Spyder3Print - printer profiling package for creating icc printer profiles. Allows considerable optimisation of profile qualities, including black and white.
Spyder3Pro - monitor profiling with multiple monitor support and ambient light measurement.
Spyder3elite - review of the comprehensive monitor and projector profiling system with multiple monitor support and ambient light measurement.
Spyder2express - entry level monitor profiling system from ColorVision for Macs and PCs.
A review of the Spyder 2 pro monitor calibration system.
Projector profiling with the Spyder 2 Pro.
Spyder2PRO Ambient light measurement
The Spyder2PRO now allows you to measure your ambient room lighting conditions before deciding on monitor calibration settings.
PrintFIX PRO
A considerable upgrade to the PrintFIX. The new version uses a Spectrocolorimeter to let you create printer icc profiles (Not sold directly any more - you can ugrade the software for free to Spyder3 Print)
Updated PrintFIX PRO - better colour printing and B/W too...
PrintFIX PLUS The software only version of PrintFIX PRO that allows you to create icc profiles without your own patch reader.
The original PrintFIX review. Printer profiling system (not sold directly any more)

Pantone

Pantone Eye One Display LT - monitor profiling. The mid range monitor profiling solution in the trio from Pantone. The measuring device is an Eye One Display LT from GretagMacbeth, and uses the Eye One Match software.
Pantone Eye One Display 2 - monitor profiling. The measuring device is an Eye One Display 2 from GretagMacbeth, and uses the Eye One Match software. This review has additional information to that in our original GretagMacbeth Eye One Display 2 review, and compares features between the Display 2, Display LT and Huey.
Pantone Huey Pro - review
Dual monitor support and and improved set of options compared to the basic huey.
Pantone Huey - review
The Huey is a new and relatively inexpensive addition to the monitor profiling market. Keith looks at how it performs, including its novel capacity to modify your monitor setup in response to changing room lighting.

Others

Desktop Print Viewer - PDV-3e - A review of the GTI print viewer, showing why having a well defined print viewing solution helps with print evaluation and soft proofing. Good lighting is a key factor in print consistency and prints looking more like you see on your monitor.
GrafiLite
A review of the Ott Lite based print viewing lamp.
ColorEyes Display Pro
Monitor profiling software that works with a variety of measurement devices.
Kodak Professional Colour Management check up kit - review
Print Profiler - review
An i1 based print and monitor profiling system from Colour Confidence.
Print Profiler - update
An improved version of the Print Profiler package.

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The full range of our commercial photography services

Commercial photography Photography to get your business message across. Details on our commercial photography page.

Industrial photography Locations, products, machinery, people. There are full details on the industrial photography page.

Architecture Photography of the built environment. Technical excelence and creativity combined. Details on the architectural photography page.

Construction From site evaluation through to buildings in use, our construction photography covers the full process from site evaluation to finished structures and buildings.

Heritage Architecture Specialist photography for recording and documenting heritage and restoration projects. Detailed images and processing, such as rectification.

High resolution photography and digital imaging Extremely high resolution photographs. Capabilities way beyond traditional large format film. Multi gigabyte sized images.

Product photograpy Studio and location based product photography

Macro photography Photography of very small objects.

Interior and lifestyle photography Interior photography for designers, architects and housing developers. Commercial and residential property.

Hotel Photography Photography to publicise all aspects of your hotel, resort or spa and the services you offer your guests. Hotel photography for print and web use.

Restaurant and location based food photography Photography of food, where it's made, where it's served or even where it's produced and sold. Food photography beyond the studio.

Corporate Event photography Our photography services are available for corporate events and hospitality where we supply high quality images for publicity and promotional purposes. Our aim is to capture the atmosphere and convey much more than just a record of who was there.

Venue Photography Entertainment venue, club and gig photography in Leicester and the UK.

Photography for Annual Reports Images to capture the essence of your company's activities, locations and people. Detailed creative photography for print and web use. Images available as large fine art prints.

Location stills photography Stills and publicity photography for video shoots.

Landscape Photography We provide commercial landscape photography for brochures, events and exhibitions.

Fine Art prints We also provide large fine-art prints of the natural and man made environment for domestic and corporate clients. There are numerous example of Keith Cooper's photography in the main Landscape photo gallery

Training / education / seminars You can take better pictures yourself. Many corporate clients want to take their own photographs for internal and web use. Northlight Images offers training to help you get the most out of the equipment you already have and can help you decide whether it is truly adequate for your needs. At Northlight we are not worried by the prospect of people doing their own photography. We have specific web pages covering: General photography training Photography training for estate agents Product photography courses. Principles of digital imaging Colour management training and consultancy Lectures, seminars and talks Photography tuition for individuals

Other areas of our site that may be of interest...

We've a whole section of the site devoted to Digital Black and White photography and printing. It covers all the specialist articles and reviews written by Keith. We've many other Photography Articles and Photographic equipment and software reviews on the site aimed at helping you get the best out of your own photography.

There is a gallery of landscape photography and fine art prints.

All new material appears on the Articles, news and reviews page.

Visiting Leicester or wondering where it is? We have views from the Leicester traffic cameras.