WHCC Prints and Calibrating My Monitor

When I received the test prints from WHCC, I immediately noticed they were 1-2 stops darker than my original files. I needed to calibrate my monitor to resemble the color and brightness of the prints. This is the only way I will know what the prints from WHCC will look like. A calibrated monitor will make the colors and brightness on my monitor match the colors in the WHCC prints.

WHCC suggests buying a hardware monitor calibration device. These devices attach to the front of the monitor and read the color displayed. The recommend the "eye-one display" from GretagMacbeth or the Monaco Optix XR. For now, I'm doing the calibration manually by eye.

Below is a sample of a photo original sent to WHCC, and then the calibrated and profiled photo that resembles the test print I received. I adjusted only the Color settings and the Brightness once I opened the file in Gimp. I also manually calibrated my monitor prior to making adjustments in Gimp.

To summarize, when I take a photo: I'll change the profile setting on my monitor to reflect the sRGB color profile set on my camera (Nikon D7000) if necessary. Then I'll open the image in Gimp and apply the preset calibration in the Color and Brightness settings. This will resemble what the WHCC print of the image will look like. I edit the image to my liking prior to sending it on the WHCC. I make sure to embed the color profile. If all goes correctly, I should have confidence in WHCC printing the image I want.

Original photo sent to WHCC.

This is the photo after I calibrated it for my monitor, adjusting the color and brightness. This photo closely resembles the original test prints mailed to me from WHCC.