After some tinkering, I had my zen moment: All colors synchronized, precise, professional. At least until the sun shone through my office window and turned everything upside down.
Here's How to Do It Right
If you're also fighting through the settings jungle, here's my step-by-step guide.
Skip Step 1 if you don't own an Eizo screen with calibration build in.
- Start ColorNavigator and calibrate
- Brightness: 120 cd/m²
- White point: 6500K (D65)
- Target: sRGB
- Gamma and color space: sRGB - Optimize Windows settings
- Enable "Automatically manage colors for apps"
- Set color profile to the one generated by monitor
- Disable HDR
- Turn off night mode - Adjust Photoshop and browser
- In Photoshop: set sRGB IEC61966-2.1 as working color space
- In Chrome: enter chrome://flags in address bar, find "Force color profile" and set to sRGB
I used to think Apple was ahead in terms of color. But actually, Windows works just as well — you just need to know where the controls are hidden. A calibrated monitor is like a well-tuned instrument, except we're tuning colors instead of notes. And like notes, colors need to be in tune.
The perfect workflow only exists in the lab. In real office life, light fluctuates, blinds creak, and sometimes you're just sitting awkwardly.
My tip after this morning full of color experiments? Invest in a good monitor, use the calibration software, and accept that sometimes the sun just shines outside. The slightly reduced colors after calibration might seem sobering at first — but hey, better honest than artificially oversaturated.
And next time you tackle your monitor calibration: Take a deep breath and don't be afraid. It works reliably with these steps.