Here are some quick tips to help you to set up a digital studio based on I.S.O. viewing standards.


The environment of your studio will influence your perception of colour, so your walls should be grey or dark, you should avoid strong colours in your field of view and the wallpaper on your computer desktop should be neutral grey.

Natural light should be eliminated from the room due to its variability in colour temperature in different weather, so curtains or blackout blinds are ideal for this. Artificial lighting should be low, diffuse and daylight-spectrum with a colour temperature of 6,500k with no direct light onto the screen. Prints should be evaluating using a viewing booth like the type we use at the printspace, although simulated D65 daylight illumination lamps provide a cost effective alternative.

With monitors, your eye level should be centralised on the screen. A large proportion of monitors will give you significant shifts in colour & lighting if viewed from angles. To see this effect for yourself, look at an image with your eyes centralized on the screen then slowly move your head out to one side.

If you are thinking of purchasing a monitor, we recommend an LCD display Eizo's coloredge series or NEC's Multisync range. Your screen should also be fitted with a hood to improve the shading and reduce reflections.

In terms of other hardware we recommend a computer with a dual core processor with 2Gb of Ram, a Wacom Intous graphics tablet functioning in pen mode, Adobe Photoshop and Capture One Pro. Finally, remember to back up your files using an external raid system or DVDs.