Gigapixel Art Documentation
New work by the talented Joey Fauerso. This is an example of art documentation at gigapixel resolution. Click on the four arrow "full screen" icon in the upper right corner of the box below, zoom in and explore.
400 Megapixel Art Documentation Examples
Here are a few examples of some works documented at 400 megapixels. These were captured in a single shot without stitching. Please click, zoom to 100% and pan around to appreciate the detail in these images.
Polarization Samples
A 4 point lighting system at a low angle of incidence reduces glare and provides even illumination. While most works look great in this lighting, some artwork shows glare at every angle of incidence. These works benefit from polarization. Here are some samples showing the unpolarized version on the left and the polarized version on the right. Please click on these and view them at 1:1 to fully appreciate the differences. From our experience, polarization is absolutely necessary and we've developed a calibration technique for it that ensures precise tonal reproduction. Because content…
Best Practices for Lightroom performance
It’s 2020. If you are a Lightroom user, now is a great time to take some steps to reevaluate and optimize your Lightroom catalog. Here are my 2020 LR performance tips: 01 When buying a new machine, get at least 32GB RAM. 32GB is the new minimum. 02 When buying a new machine, buy a big, fast Solid State Drive (SSD). Having 30-40% of that drive open ensures both its performance and longevity. Don’t run an SSD close to capacity. 03 SSDs have the single biggest impact on performance. Have your OS and Lightroom running on an SSD . 04 Keep your working files on an SSD. Archive older,…
It's time to stop using the Kelvin scale for display calibration
The Kelvin scale has always been relatively simple to understand in the context of display calibration. Choose a higher value and your display white point will be bluer; choose a lower value and it will be yellower, etc. But this is where the simplicity stops and the confusion begins. What do we do if the white point appears to be magenta or greenish? And why doesn’t the display calibration Kelvin value correlate with the value of our lighting? In other words, why does calibrating to ~5700 Kelvin match 4100 Kelvin lights? Why can’t we calibrate to 4100K to match 4100K lights? So…
XRite i1Pro3 (standard aperture) review
The new i1Pro3 “Swiss Army Knife” of spectrophotometers XRIte announced the i1Pro3 spectrophotometer and released i1Profiler 3.2 which supports it. This is the standard aperture i1Pro, not to be confused with the large aperture i1Pro3plus. The i1Pro2 was the Swiss Army Knife of spectrophotometers and the best selling of all time. The i1Pro3 is a worthy successor with a variety of refinements, most notably: Combined MO, M1 and M2 measurements in a single pass, thanks to a new full-spectrum LED light source. Significantly improved strip reading Support for smaller patches than the…
XRite i1Pro3plus (large aperture) review
XRite brings back polarized, transmissive and large aperture measurements with the i1Pro3plus spectrophotometer. Quick overview The i1Pro3plus spectrophotometer contains a new LED illuminant that allows for simultaneous M0, M1, M2 measurement in a single pass. The large 8mm aperture (vs the i1Pro2’s 3.5mm) translates into rich, extreme shadow measurements and averaging of uneven surfaces and large dot patterns. Polarized M3 measurements mean smoother shadow tonality and improved deep color saturation on textured surfaces like glossy canvas. Transmissive scanning allows us to measure…
Celebrating 25 Years
25+ years ago I was splitting my time between a job where I was a scanner operator and an apprenticeship with a master printmaker. In the printmaking studio we were making large digital negatives on an imagesetter and using them to make hand-coated platinum/palladium prints in a wet darkroom. Back then everyone was using Photoshop 2 and had CRT monitors. While the color scans coming off the Leaf45 seemed pretty decent after a little color correction in curves, I was frustrated with how different the handmade B&W platinum palladium prints looked in comparison to the same images onscreen.…
Quick 2019 RAID Evaluation
I had a chance to setup a few new RAID systems last week at different client sites. I always like to do a Blackmagic Disk Speed Test and thought it would be fun to share. Manufacturer's speed claims are one thing but real world performance is another, and much more meaningful. Here's a Drobo 5D3 connected via Thunderbolt 3 on a new, maxed out iMac. This 5 bay enclosure costs $678 without drives and comes with two Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports and one USB 3.0 port. DiskSpeedTest Drobo 5D3 via TB3 on a maxxed out 2019 iMac Another client asked me for a recommendation prior to purchasing and I've…
Display Recommendation Thoughts
March 18, 2022industry tidbits,articles,commentary
I get a lot of questions about what displays I recommend, and answering them can be tricky. Some people are seeking justification for spending a lot of money on something they may not need. There are a lot of old notions that we need to forgot as well as newer features we need to consider. I have a few display recommendations on the recommendations page and people often ask me my why brands like NEC or Eizo monitors are not on there. My feeling is that the internal calibration hardware that some displays have (NEC, Eizo, Sony, Barco, etc) played an important role in addressing real issues we…