Jim, do you have a CRT monitor? Macs traditionally set the gamma at 1.8 and pcs use 2.2, although if you have an LCD monitor it should really be set to 2.2 or higher even on a mac.
So, yes, there is usually some difference between the display on a mac and on a pc. You have to choose which one you want to be the most correct. If your photo looks great on the mac it will be too dark on a pc and if it looks perfect on a pc it will usually look washed out on your mac.
Thank you Barbara,
So how does ClubPhoto, Shutterfly and others that send photos make them look good on all monitors and also do the challenge photos look the same on PCs and MACs? I’ll try setting the Gamma in the middle.
I have an iMac with OS 9.2. I seldom if ever print, just enjoy slideshows on my monitor. My wife and I lead Elderhostel trips to Copper Canyon Mexico and I post a ClubPhoto album of the trip that our guest seem to enjoy quite a bit.
also do the challenge photos look the same on PCs and MACs
No. Go to the public library and log on to the challenge site from there to see. It’s not horribly different, but this is an annoying fact of web life that web designers hassle with on a daily basis.
There is a limit to how much you can control what someone else sees on their computer, and most people have never heard of monitor calibration and would be scared to try it if they had.
If you have a flat panel imac the gamma should really be at 2.2 anyway. If you have a CRT imac, you may find it slightly harder to read text if you set the gamma above the mac native setting.
BTW, do you know for sure that ClubPhoto et al do make their stuff look the same on both platforms?
Thank you again Barbara. My iMac is CRT. I do not know for sure that they look the same from ClubPhoto on PCs and Macs, I get good comments from users of both platforms. It’s when I burn CDS using Toast Titanium that the PC ones are so dark. I use the Toast setting for both platforms and they look bright on the Mac and dark on PCs. My guess is I will need to set my Mac Gamma to one setting to adjust in PSE and burn CDs for that platform and to a another setting for PCs. I guess I could buy Macs for my friends with PC !!! 🙂
Jim
Hi Jim:
I’m a PC user, so I may be way off regarding your monitor problem, but here’s a possibility. If there is an equivalent Mac program to the ‘Adobe Gamma’ on Windows, I found this tool excellent at setting the colors right on my CRT, and the monitor display is almost identical to the printed pictures. I make sure that the color profile is set the same in my camera, print software and monitor.
Bob Zidle
Bob – the problem isn’t (necessarily) lack of callibration. The problem is the traditional way that the two platforms are callibrated – macs have for some reason traditionally been set to a brighter setting (higher gamma) in the callibration process.
And even with two macs, comparing the results on a LCD vs a CRT screen makes a huge difference. I got quite a shock when I compared the photos from my recent trip side by side on the CRT of my imac and on my husband’s ibook where they had been stored….while one was marginally brighter than the other the contrast was very different – the laptop image looked like it had had an S shaped curves layer applied already to add "punch". Sometimes i wonder what my photos really look like (when viewed thru’ the LCD of the camera they look different again!)
Susan S.
Susan, With different monitors, different platforms, CRTs, LCDs etc. Different settings on each, how can we ever really judge with certainty much more than composition? That said I would still like my friends on any computer to get a good picture. It seems I must try to adjust my monitor to either the Mac or PC platform before adjusting in PSE and burning. I am glad I am not alone and that you also have monitor issues.
Jim
Jim, you’ve got to keep one more thing in mind: You simply cannot control the settings other people have on their monitors, whether they’re using Macs or Wins, LCDs or CRTs. If you are the one editing the images, you have to have your monitor calibrated properly in order to know what you’re getting, because Elements is a color managed program. Some of your Win using friends – as well as some of your fellow Mac users – may never have heard of color management, let alone calibrated their own monitors. Anyone who has is quite likely to see the image looking much as it did on your screen; if they haven’t it’s anybody’s guess what they’ll see in spite of your efforts. If you have one particular person you want to send images to, you might be able to accomplish your goal by having them get their equipment set up to closely match yours. If these CDs are for more general distribution, you’re toast in terms of controlling the display, unless you want to go to everybody’s house and start messing with their settings. It seems to me you’re trying to control something that’s uncontrollable in many cases.
