A volunteer and collaborative effort to bring information about shared microscopy facilities to the University of Arizona and the community.

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Did You Know That?

Featuring tips, tools, explanations, and information about things that are not quite microscopes, but might be of use to our users. Is there something you would like to see here? Contact us and let us know.

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Mis-calibrated computer monitors can throw off the colors in your carefully prepared publication figures?

Sharing image files between multiple computers often means that somewhere in the handling process the image will be viewed or possibly manipulated using a monitor (CRT, LCD, Laptop screen) that is not adjusted correctly, has bad color settings, or is old/cheap equipment. This can be the case with collaborators at other institutions as well. Please note that laptops running on battery typically dim the screen to conserve power, which can significantly change how the image is seen.

To protect against this problem, all the computers in your lab should have their monitors calibrated using a colorimeter at least annually. Labs can purchase their own colorimeter (monitor calibration device) for a few hundred dollars, or University of Arizona employees can borrow (for 1 day) an i1 Display Pro monitor calibration device from the UA College of Fine Arts' Digital Print Studio. The calibration process is relatively quick (roughly 10-15min/computer) and the included software makes it fairly easy to do.

UA College of Fine Arts
Digital Print Studio (only available to UA faculty, staff & students)
520-626-4172
digitalprintstudio.cfa.arizona.edu