Using Desktop Print Viewer

I have been reading about desktop print viewers that project light in a precise D50 color. I am wondering how you can best use one of these viewing devices in the workflow. I use a NEC monitor that is regularly calibrated, and my screen to print match is pretty good with Epson 7800. So I have that covered. What I am interested in is how one might use on of these viewers essentially as a post "hard" proof to then tweak colors in subsequent prints to achieve the desired effect under D50 exposure. Or is the purpose of the viewer only to simulate what the image will look light under an identical light color in the space where the image will hang, with no workflow application.

thanks.

David

Sorry no, the only actual source of D50 is 93 million miles away from your display. And all the Standard Illuminants are averages taken all over the planet, over the course of about a year, way back in the 60's. The series of D-illuminants was adopted by the CIE in 1971 based on 622 measurements from the early 1960s: 249 at Rochester, NY (Kodak); 274 at Enfield, England (Thorn Electrical Industries); and 99 at Ottawa, Canada (National Research Council). Each of these labs contributed spectral measurements taken with different kinds of instruments measuring at different spectral intervals over slightly different ranges.

 

The values you set for CCT of a display vary based on many factors! The right number is the one that produces a visual match to a print viewed under..... See:

 

Why are my prints too dark?

 

A video update to a written piece on subject from 2013

In this 24 minute video, I'll cover:

Are your prints really too dark?

Display calibration and WYSIWYG

Proper print viewing conditions

Trouble shooting to get a match

Avoiding kludges that don't solve the problem

 

High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_prints_too_dark.mp4

 

Low resolution:

From xritephoto.com: "The quality, or “color,” of the light used in viewing artwork, printed graphics, photographs and transparencies is defined as D50 or 5000K. This was chosen because it comes close to natural daylight, or more specifically, daylight at sunrise or sunset."

Are you suggesting that a viewing station that emits this color light is without utility because it is not the sun. Not being cheeky. Just want to wrap my mind around the intent of your reply, which does not address the thrust of my post, that being the utility of a viewing station that casts this color light on a print.

BTW, my prints are not "too dark."

Edited April 9, 2018 by david_simonds|1

So much for X-rite: D50 isn't the same as CCT 5000K. See:

http://digitaldog.net/files/22Thecolorofwhite.pdf

To answer your question further, I have both a GTI Soft-View booth and Solux lamps for viewing prints. Neither produces D50! And the quality of the illuminant, quality defined by viewing it's SPD (spectrum, see URL above) differs dramatically. So yes, you need a print viewing booth and no, neither produces D50 despite the marketing hype.