One of the most important aspects in digital imaging, colour rendition can make or break an image. Just about everyone loves pictures with rich but accurate hues and tones that enhance the subject. We're less impressed with photos that exhibit flat, dull colours or an artificial neon-like dazzle.

There's no official standard for "correct" colour rendition. As a rule of thumb, "optimal" colour is whatever is suitable for the scene or subject. You might want rich, vivid hues in travel photos but a softer, more realistic rendition of skin and hair tones in portraits. Occasionally, you can achieve the desired effect with your camera's default settings; but often, you'll want to take advantage of more advanced techniques.

Photo caption: When shooting portraits in JPEG capture mode, make sure that the white balance and saturation are suitable for flesh tones. While some other in-camera settings might be preferable for other parts of the scene, appropriate skin tone rendition should always take priority. Photo by Peter K. Burian

Optimize the Colour Balance

Getting accurate colours starts with using the white balance control on your camera. In addition to Auto White Balance, digital cameras have presets for other types of lighting, such as tungsten and fluorescent. I covered this subject in an earlier Photo Tip of the Week.

Tip: The WB presets are also useful for producing other effects such as a warm (amber) or cool (blue) overall colour balance. For an outdoor scene you might try the Flash, Cloudy or Shade WB presets for a warmer rendition or Tungsten/Incandescent for a very blue overall balance. Most DSLRs also provide a WB Fine-Tuning menu item; this allows for shifting any WB preset (to the desired intensity) toward green, magenta, amber or blue for a different overall colour balance.

Get Suitable Saturation

The term saturation refers to the intensity of colours. A certain tone can be rich and vibrant, like a deep blue sky, or flat and dull like the sky on a hazy day. In a worst-case scenario, excessive saturation produces an artificial cartoon-like effect while inadequate saturation produces a washed-out look. Digital cameras are usually pre-set to provide moderately high colour saturation at default, using the standard picture style mode.

Most cameras also offer other picture style modes such as Vivid or Landscape for much richer hues. (Outdoors, a polarizing filter can also make colours deeper by wiping glare from reflective surfaces.) Other options provide more gentle saturation, including the Natural, Faithful or Portrait style. Typically, overrides are also available for setting a higher or lower level of Saturation. Start with the picture style that's most suitable for a specific scene or subject. With experience, you'll also know whether even better results are possible by boosting or moderating the Saturation.

Fine-Tune the Colours

After downloading your photos to a computer plan to optimize the saturation and colour balance with imaging software. Try different levels of the relevant tools, using the "undo" or "step backward" control after each attempt. After a few tries, you'll get the desired result. But remember that an excessive boost in Saturation can degrade a JPEG; with Photoshop or Elements, a +15 level is the maximum that's recommended.

If you shoot with the RAW capture mode, the in-camera settings for WB and Saturation are not locked-in as they are in JPEG capture. You can modify both aspects (extensively if desired ) using the RAW converter software without degrading image quality. Still, it's wise to use in-camera features to get your RAW format photos close to ideal. That will minimize the amount of time/effort needed to modify them, an important consideration especially when dealing with hundreds of photos.

Improve Monitor Accuracy

One of the most frustrating aspects of digital imaging is getting prints that closely resemble the images that we see on a computer monitor. For prints that exhibit accurate colour, it's important to have a monitor that displays accurate colour. I covered Monitor Calibration in an earlier Photo Tip of the Week.

With a calibrated display, prints should closely match the appearance on the monitor in colour rendition and in tonal values.

Note: Frankly, there will be some natural differences produced by various types of media. For example, papers with a soft finish (such as "watercolour") exhibit much softer colours than high-gloss media. As well, a print that's viewed by reflected light will not be identical to an image on a monitor that's viewed by transmitted light. Remember too that the colours in a print will look different in various types of illumination; they'll be the most accurate around noon in moderately bright daylight.

Set the Right Colour Space

By default, digital cameras are set to assign a colour space called sRGB to all images. That's because this option produces colours that look great on a computer monitor, a Web page or an online photo album. But it's not the best setting for photographers who often make inkjet prints. The Adobe RGB colour space is preferable for that purpose. It can be set using the Colour Space item in the camera's menu, and (as discussed later) it can also be set for use by image editing software.

In simplified terms, a colour space defines the range of colours available for a digital image files. The Adobe RGB space has a wider colour gamut; it can record a wider range of tones. It can also most accurately encompasses the range of colours that can be produced by inkjet photo printers. That means that you can edit your image until it looks perfect on your monitor, with relative confidence that the printer will be able to reproduce all the colours you see.

Tip:If you often make inkjet prints, your imaging software should be set to use the Adobe RGB (1998) colour space, even if you don't use an Adobe program. Most enthusiast-level software allows you set this preference. In Adobe Elements for example, use this command to ensure that your photos will all be in this colour space: Edit > Colour Settings > Always Optimize for Printing. With Photoshop, try this: Edit > Colour Settings >North America Prepress. When working on an image that will be used on the Web, convert it to sRGB. That's easy to do with Elements using Image > Convert Colour Profile or with Photoshop using Edit > Convert to Profile.

Use the Best Printer Settings

If you are working with a calibrated monitor and the right colour space, you should be able to get good colours with an inkjet photo printer's default settings. Of course, this assumes that you have specified the following items in the driver software: Photoshop Manages Colours (under Colour Handling) if using Adobe software, Adobe RGB (under Printer Profile) and the paper type in use (in the Preferences or Properties screen), such as Ultra Premium Luster with an Epson machine.

For even better colour rendition in your prints, be sure to override the automatic colour controls. With an Epson Stylus Photo printer's driver software, select the Advanced tab under Preferences. Check the ICM box (under Colour Management) and also check the Off - No Colour Adjustment box. This will ensure that the print will be true to the image you see in the monitor's display; the software will not attempt to modify it. (Other enthusiast-grade photo printers offer similar options.)

The Bottom Line

As mentioned earlier, there is no rule that defines "correct" or "ideal" colour rendition. Allow your own subjective preference and good taste to be your guide. Remember that certain subjects benefit from bold, vibrant hues while others look better with more subtle colours. Use in-camera settings to make images that are faithful to the subject or to produce a specific colour effect for creative reasons. Later, rely on image-editing software to tweak both colour balance and saturation using an accurate monitor display. This extra effort will pay off, helping you to make images and prints with great visual appeal.

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