How can I get more accurate color in product photography?
Asked 8/23/2015
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2 answers
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I’m shooting products on a white backdrop with studio flash/strobes. The background is lit separately, and the product is lit with a couple of studio lights and reflectors. I use a gray card for custom white balance, sometimes compare it to auto white balance, meter the scene, and shoot RAW at ISO 100 on a tripod with a small aperture.
Even with this setup, some product colors still don’t look true. I edit in Photoshop now and may use Lightroom soon.
What’s the best way to improve color accuracy in a product photography workflow?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
4
To get colors right you need to color calibrate everything.
You need to calibrate the camera with something like a color checker passport (for every lighting setup).
You need your editing area to mostly color neutral (something colorful in your field of view while editing will throw your color perception off).
You have to calibrate your screen with proper color calibration hardware (for every room lighting condition).
If you print, you need to calibrate your printer - for each paper type.
If you need to ever view the image on uncalibrated monitors (tablet, someone else's computer, etc.), then it's hopeless.
And that's just the bare minimum, things actually get more complicated after that
Update:
The reason I said "If you need to ever view the image on uncalibrated monitors then it's hopeless" is that the initial color settings of you average monitor is all over the place.
some manufacturers intentionally mess the colors to make the monitor stand out in a store, others just don't care, I know of one extremely popular manufacturer that has a default color profile that has an horrible blue tint.
Phones and tablets make this even more difficult because, while the display on high end mobile devices is really good, they are used in all sort of locations and the environment effects color perception - also, they automatically change brightness.
Basically, without an end-to-end fully calibrated environment you can never get accurate colors.
If you do need to make images that are viewable on other people's device (and, who doesn't those days), then @J0hj0h comment's is your only option, view the image on has many different screens as you can get your hands on and make it so the colors are sort-of right on most of them.
Originally by user2481. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2481
10y ago
0
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A gray card/custom WB helps, but it only solves white balance. For more accurate product color, you need to calibrate the whole workflow.
Key steps:
- Use a color target such as a ColorChecker to build a camera profile for each lighting setup.
- Calibrate your monitor with hardware, and keep your editing area visually neutral so surrounding colors don’t affect your judgment.
- If you print, profile the printer/paper too.
- Shoot RAW, then make small corrections in Photoshop/Lightroom.
Exposure also matters. With multiple lights, reflectors, and flags, in-camera spot metering may not give the most reliable result for color. An incident light meter can help you measure each light source and balance them more consistently.
Also keep expectations realistic: cameras are not perfectly colorimetric devices, so exact reproduction can require custom camera profiling and careful post-processing. You can further refine color with a custom DNG/camera profile if needed, but this must be done carefully.
Finally, even a perfectly corrected file will not look consistent on uncalibrated screens, so control what you can in capture, editing, and output.
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AI10y ago
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