Print evaluating light

**Tin Can** · 3-Jul-2021, 04:21

Check Menards, they have a very good array of bulbs and fixtures

Far more than the other 2 biggies

Take your time and look at it all, the staff knows nothing

I buy and test for myself

Free advice is not worth...

**Jim Noel** · 3-Jul-2021, 10:19

The best viewing light for color images depends upon the lighting available where the finished print will be hung.
Thus my choice would be a typically well lit room in the home.

**Pieter** · 3-Jul-2021, 10:33

All this discussion about the lighting in the room where the print will be hung leads me to the question: what if the print is moved to another room, or sold? All of a sudden it no longer looks as intended, especially if it was printed for dimly lit conditions. That's why I print to an industry standard light.

**Drew Wiley** · 6-Jul-2021, 19:19

Every serious pro lighting store once had a whole row or set of booths holding different common light sources so one could test their fabric samples or whatever under them. Probably not any more; but one can nevertheless set up something similar for their own use, at least with respect to lighting extremes likely to be frequently encountered. For example, typical tungsten light was quite warm or yellowish around 3500K, and daylight often quite cool up to around 6000K. A simple walk out the door to shaded sunlight sufficed for the latter. But in the lab I had warm tungsten, 4000K as a compromise, and 5000K representing the industry standard for critical batch to batch evaluation, retouching etc. All of these were very high CRI sources. But once in awhile there was a specific display installation illumination I could match my color prints to, taking a color temp meter and lumen meter with me in advance, prior to actual printing. Otherwise, I was relatively safe either direction, warmer or cooler, simply standardizing on 4000K. But I don't trust any kind of current LED or CFL substitute.