I got a new monitor yesterday. It is GREAT. It’s a Benq monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution and sRGB colour. Expensive, but super nice. But a new monitor means calibration time, and I was reminded how FUCKING USELESS the Windows calibration tool is. It always results in a too-dark contrasty mess. I used it following their instructions to the letter and then opened up that pegasus image of mine and it’s wingtips were solid black and, just no, I know damn well that’s not how i painted the thing. The wingtips are extremely dark gray, dammit. So I dug up some images to help me calibrate.
Firs of all go to this website and get their calibration image. It proved quite helpful, and should be your starting point.
And these 3 are some images i used to help make sure everything is fine. The Batman image was my desktop background at the time, and I noticed while calibrating with Windows (USELESS!) tool that the inside of his cape kept going pitch black. So for that one, you want to make sure the background is nice and black, but you can still see the detail on the inside of his cape. There are fabric folds and a patch under his elbow. The pegasus is one of my own drawings (currently unfinished, hence the rough state of the shading) and should have a fur texture on it’s rump, there is not a single spot of solid white, and you should be able to see some detail in the wingtips, which are actually extremely dark gray with some texturing, outlined in true black. And the game screenshot is one of my Skyrim screenies, and you should be able to see texture and a woven pattern in his armor.
Don’t use the Windows calibration, it’s useless. Use the settings your video card no doubt has.
Imported from Tumblr: http://ift.tt/1RNO8JX
