Rant: My whole color proofing process was wrong for years

I was printing a batch of menus for a cafe in Seattle and the reds kept coming out muddy. After six bad runs, I finally put my old printed proof next to the monitor under daylight. The screen was set way too bright, making everything look more vibrant than it could ever print. Now I keep a specific Pantone swatch book next to my desk to check against before I send anything to the printer. How do you all make sure your screen matches what comes out of the machine?

2 comments

2 Comments

burns.brooke3d ago

That's such a classic and painful lesson to learn the hard way. Calibrating your monitor with a hardware tool is a total game changer after you go through something like that. It forces your screen to show colors more accurately, not just what looks good to your eyes. Keeping a physical swatch book is smart because it gives you a real world anchor point that never changes. Honestly, trusting your screen alone is just asking for trouble once you see how off it can be.

morgan_jenkins903d ago

And a good monitor hood helps too, keeps the ambient light from messing with your view.