<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      xmlns:its="http://www.w3.org/2005/11/its"
      type="topic" style="task"
      id="color-calibrate-screen">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="color#calibration"/>
    <link type="seealso" xref="color-calibrate-printer" />
    <link type="seealso" xref="color-calibrate-scanner" />
    <link type="seealso" xref="color-calibrate-camera" />

    <revision pkgversion="3.7.1" version="0.2" date="2012-11-16" status="outdated"/>
    <revision pkgversion="3.10" date="2013-11-04" status="candidate"/>
    <revision pkgversion="3.28" date="2018-04-05" status="review"/>

    <credit type="author">
      <name>Richard Hughes</name>
      <email>richard@hughsie.com</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="editor">
      <name>Michael Hill</name>
      <email>mdhillca@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="editor">
      <name>Ekaterina Gerasimova</name>
      <email>kittykat3756@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>

    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>

    <desc>Calibrating your screen is important to display accurate
    colors.</desc>
  </info>

  <title>How do I calibrate my screen?</title>

  <p>You can calibrate your screen so that it shows more accurate color. This
  is especially useful if you are involved in digital photography, design or
  artwork.</p>

  <p>You will need either a colorimeter or a spectrophotometer to do this. Both
  devices are used to profile screens, but they work in slightly different
  ways.</p>

  <steps>
    <item>
      <p>Make sure your calibration device is connected to your computer.</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Open the <gui xref="shell-introduction#activities">Activities</gui> overview and
      start typing <gui>Settings</gui>.</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Click on <gui>Settings</gui>.</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Click <gui>Color</gui> in the sidebar to open the panel.</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Select your screen.</p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>Press <gui style="button">Calibrate…</gui> to commence the
      calibration.</p>
    </item>
  </steps>

  <p>Screens change all the time: the backlight in a TFT display will halve in
  brightness approximately every 18 months, and will get yellower as it gets
  older. This means you should recalibrate your screen when the [!] icon
  appears in the <gui>Color</gui> panel.</p>

  <p>LED screens also change over time, but a much slower rate than TFTs.</p>

</page>
