Mac OS X has a built-in screen color optimization function that allows Mac computer users to tweak the display in order to produce the most accurate colors. However, by default, Mac displays are fairly bright and vivid, so many Mac users don’t ever setup optimal monitor/screen settings. If you want to fine tune the colors on your Mac, it’s simple, but does require a few steps. In today’s post, we will review how to calibrate the screen for Mac computers.
To get started, launch System Preferences by navigating the path Finder > Applications > System Preferences. Next, you’ll need to select the Displays listing.
You should now be at the Display home screen. Click the Color tab and select your display from the menu on the left side of the screen. If you are on a Mac notebook or an iMac, the display should be simply labeled Display. However, if you are using an external monitor or are attempting to calibrate a non Apple display, it may be labeled as something else. Once you have selected your display, click the Calibrate… button.
The Display Calibrator should now be open and active on screen. There is an option for Expert Mode, but that is rarely needed, so just leave it unchecked for now. Click the Continue button to proceed, and click the Continue button once more to proceed to the next screen.
The rest of the process is fairly self explanatory, and the Display Calibrator Assistant guides you through the process. Upon successfully calibrating the display, you will be prompted to choose a name for the display.
That’s it for calibrating the display. Now, your new display profile should appear on the left side of the Display preference window. You can configure additional displays using the same steps listed above. If you sometimes use different display settings, maybe for photo editing, you could create a high contrast display profile, etc… and use that display profile when you are editing photos.
Thanks for stopping by for today’s post. If you have any questions regarding optimal display settings, leave a comment and I will try and help.
