I know it is wrong to work with the maximum brightness setting on a monitor.

It would make your images too dark.

But I'd find it more agreeable if I could than on a dimmed monitor.

COULD ONE DO THIS?

1. Edit an image monitor set to bright.

2. Adjust for this making the image too dark by using the brightness slider.

WELL...

I have the impression it is not quite the same image.

Have you ever experimented with this?

Thanks!

I'd just like to know: is there any way to avoid working on a muted display. After all, it's hard to see the colors well if the screen is turned to minimum brightness.

Many office-type LCD displays can't be dialed down to a proper brightness level for critical photo processing work and still display properly. If that's the case you just have to do the best you can, and making an after-processing-but-before-printing brightness adjustment may be it.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

A couple of thoughts:

Are you calibrating and profiling the monitor?
- If not then it doesn't really matter.

What is the intended use of your images?
- web postings? may not matter
- printing on your own printer? It will definitely make a difference.
- sending your images off to a lab? They'll probably auto-correct anyway.

How bright is the ambient light? My monitor is typically at full brightness until I do image work, then I turn it down to where I set it when I profiled it.

At first it looks pretty bad, so I normally surf the web, do some emails, grab a snack ... anything until my eyes adjust. As long as the room I'm in is pretty dark, it's amazing how my eye adapts and things look just fine.

Thank you! You really targeted my points of concern.

I calibrate using an Eye One Display 2.

My photos are presented in three ways:

1. To the client coming in - I need brightness here.

2. On the web. I found out, that even when adjusted on a too bright monitor, most people's monitors are even brighter. As you said, doesn't matter.

3. I print using professional production houses. I'm sure they do their own correction (too warm, for example). I don' t know if it helps to give them an absolutely correct file.

So, does this mean I have to work on different monitor settings? One for client representation/watching images on the screen, and the web...

... and a second, dimmed down to 120cd/m2 for print preparation?

Other than many people, I like a bright screen.

(If this is plainly wrong, I may have to change my personal preferences).

That's another point. I do a lot of editing at night, but at least 25% during the day.

Looks like I need two profiles?

I have light-blocking shades on my windows, and they are close to 100% effective. That way, the light is pretty constant whether I edit during the day or night. I could use wide gaffer's tape to seal the edges of the shades to the edges of the window frame but haven't found it necessary.

I use one profile on an old Diamond Pro 2060u CRT monitor, which I reprofile every 2 weeks.

I came to the result that too bright a monitor is very bad, as it gives you the illusion of higher contrast - and then you get a flat image.