B4Print.com

Research time and I would like your opinions and preferences...

My current setup (under review) is that my coworker and I are in a large storage closet style room (8' x 18' ...ish)  dedicated to color accuracy. We have a double wide viewing booth, and two desks. The walls are painted a neutral gray, and we have no windows. The door out usually remains open so we have some typical overhead fluorescent coming in - but otherwise the lighting from the viewing booth is on all-day every-day. We leave the overheads in our room off, and neither of us have desk lamps.

I'm considering switching us to desk lamps and only turning on the viewing booth lights while we're looking at proofs in an attempt to lengthen the life of the booth light bulbs.

Opinions? Thoughts? Considerations? Christmas tithings?  (all welcomed)

Thanks!   

Use the overheads until you need the kelvins? :laugh:

When I was reading your message I was surprised to see you were using the view booths as your lighting, those bulbs aren't cheap. I'm not a color guy, but I do know, that you should be prepared for a little bit of time while you adjust to the different color of the light on your screen and how that will affect your color moves.

People still use viewing booths? Must be the big leagues. :rotf:

Merry Christmas 43!

Quote from: scottrsimons on December 04, 2018, 07:01:30 AMWhen I was reading your message I was surprised to see you were using the view booths as your lighting, those bulbs aren't cheap. I'm not a color guy, but I do know, that you should be prepared for a little bit of time while you adjust to the different color of the light on your screen and how that will affect your color moves.

You're correct - they're not cheap..  I replaced the bulbs in January just a few months after starting here because they were 3+ yrs old and had been being run M-F 8-6...  We continued that through this year ("status quo"), and now I'm approaching the 1yr mark with the bulbs (over 2500 hrs). I'm not really wanting to spend the money to replace them again (plus it seems wasteful to throw out bulbs that still work). I have one of the GTI cards that has the color stripes that tell you if the lights are still good - but still would like to try and lengthen their life.

I will be making the change for myself and co-worker but wanted to determine the preferred lighting that helps with eye fatigue while also allowing us to maintain what we're seeing on our monitors when we make moves.

Quote from: Joe on December 04, 2018, 08:25:58 AMPeople still use viewing booths? Must be the big leagues. :rotf:

Merry Christmas 43!

I'm surprised no one has developed color accurate proofing from a smart phone yet...   ::)  :shoots_self:  :hello:

Merry Christmas to you as well Joe.

I've never worked with anything but overhead flourescents. There was a period where I'd work in the dark with just the light from the window which looked out into the plant floor at my back. That was kind of cool.

Quote from: Possum on December 04, 2018, 10:32:45 AMI've never worked with anything but overhead flourescents. There was a period where I'd work in the dark with just the light from the window which looked out into the plant floor at my back. That was kind of cool.

I'm surprised by that - seems like all the shops I've been in, its always dark(er) in the prepress area. I know our photo studio is super dark, and everyone just has little personal lamps on their desk.

I'm reading now about lighting levels (https://www.dial.de/en/blog/article/luxmeter-app-versus-measuring-deviceare-smartphones-suitable-for-measuring-illuminance/) - (2008)

And I've downloaded Lux Light Meter Pro on my phone for measuring the light levels in our room. (no, I'm not buying a calibrated Luxmeter).  Luxmeter vs Luxmeter app on various iOS and device (https://www.dial.de/en/blog/article/luxmeter-app-versus-measuring-deviceare-smartphones-suitable-for-measuring-illuminance/) - (2016)

I've worked with overhead fluorescents, skylights only and desk lamps exclusively. My preference is the desk lamp, because I don't always like a lot of light, except when I do.

Quote from: DigiCorn on December 04, 2018, 11:20:02 AMI've worked with overhead fluorescents, skylights only and desk lamps exclusively. My preference is the desk lamp, because I don't always like a lot of light, except when I do.

Well that was super helpful.  :rotf:

I thought it made perfect sense!

I prefer no lights directly over my computer (too much glare on my screen), desk lamps are okay as long as they don't reflect light onto my monitor.
My last place of employment, we always kept the lights off until we needed them.
We have them here with the Indigo and out by the Heidelberg. They are always off as well.

I voted overhead tubes..
but I usually unscrew half or more of them to avoid glare

The last place I worked where we were doing color correction and trying to be as color accurate as possible we kept the lights off as much as possible. The regular lights were fluorescents, but we even had about half of the safety lights(the ones that can't be turned off) unscrewed so they were out. Our color people each had a viewing booth which were generally only on when hard proofs and/or samples were being reviewed. Most work stations also had small personal viewing booths which were, again, mainly used when reviewing proofs/samples.

In general with the booths off I would guess the ambient light would have been around a 40watt incandescent bulb(the old school ones with the filament, not the LED, halogen, or fluorescent bulbs).

I really dont like my lighting at work, its far too much glare, but Im in an open office with glass windows all around, except for the wall behind me and the fluro lights are on in all the rooms around me, including the factory... so i have my lights off.
With them on its like the sun! and they reflect of every surface

All this trouble then the client looks at the proof under totally different lighting and its approved under those circumstances.

When the color expert came in here he showed me a gray balanced proof under about 5 different lighting scenarios and they all looked different.

I voted Daylight as my preferred option because that gives the best colour balance.  Where I used to work we had those fancy daylight bulbs but they are expensive and the secretary thought they would be like a tanning bed (she used to use them in her office).

Having said all that, most places I have worked just have regular overhead fluorescents.

Quote from: pspdfppdfxhd on December 06, 2018, 07:38:58 AMAll this trouble then the client looks at the proof under totally different lighting and its approved under those circumstances.

When the color expert came in here he showed me a gray balanced proof under about 5 different lighting scenarios and they all looked different.

Metamerism at it's finest.
It's all about the light.

We used to have a client, manufactured "stone" facade
In spite of knowing better, and being coached, etc...
they INSISTED they had to compare color vs. product outside in daylight. :ohno:

me: did they like the color?
CSR: No, they need to come back tomorrow, too cloudy today

We use all overhead 500k bulbs..

Typical fluorescent mixed with daylight.

A LOT OF DAYLIGHT.

The longest side of the room has huge windows looking north - north west.

In the afternoon we draw the ''curtains'' down  - not sure how they call those rolls in English -

The lights are warm, but because of the daylight they seem less warm than usual.

Colleagues work on imacs, and i on a hacintosh with a 27inch ultra sharp, factory calibrated...

Funny thing is the majority of jobs are processed very carefully, we keep printed records for reprints etc.

Funnier is that when we have a problem or a doubt we go all over the place to find the right spot to estimate the color look...

Even funnier the thing works, so why argue?

I think they're called shades over here in san diego

Light? When I was in prepress we were treated like mushrooms. Kept in the dark and fed shit.

Quote from: motormount on December 09, 2018, 11:31:55 AMIn the afternoon we draw the ''curtains'' down  - not sure how they call those rolls in English -

Depends on the style. Curtains are usually the hanging heavy fabric. Shades are the rolls that have the self-curling spring inside. Blinds are the slats that open and close with a rod.

Quote from: motormount on December 09, 2018, 11:31:55 AMA LOT OF DAYLIGHT.
[redacted]
Funnier is that when we have a problem or a doubt we go all over the place to find the right spot to estimate the color look...

When I want dead on balls accurate color, I check outside in the sunlight.

Quote from: DigiCorn on December 11, 2018, 12:05:05 PMWhen I want dead on balls accurate color, I check outside in the sunlight.

I'm in Michigan. We have to depend on the artificial light, as you never know when you're gonna see the sun. Especially this time of year. I'm so not used to it, I stay away from the windows...during the day time hours.  :blind: 

Quote from: DigiCorn on December 11, 2018, 12:05:05 PMWhen I want dead on balls accurate color, I check outside in the sunlight.

ok, that's why 5500k lamps are called daylight, but even if you are not working in Michigan you might need dead on balls accuracy late in the afternoon, so you'd better have proper office lighting than waiting for the sun to move straight up over your head!

ps Thanks for the shades - Tracy too -  :)

Quote from: motormount on December 12, 2018, 12:29:26 PMok, that's why 5500k lamps are called daylight, but even if you are not working in Michigan you might need dead on balls accuracy late in the afternoon, so you'd better have proper office lighting than waiting for the sun to move straight up over your head!

Exactly. Also, many times press checks come at night. I'm pretty sure no one, client or printer, want to say - y'know what? Put that press on idle until the sun comes out - I gotta look at this thing outside.  :facepalm:

I appreciate everyone's feedback - it's about what I expected (mix of overhead and none other than cpu), but good to have actual (albeit small) sampling of real world examples. So, thanks! and Cheers.  :ninja:

:ninja: