From the 2008 programme
We'll start with color management—perhaps the least understood facet of digital photography—in order to provide the steps needed to ensure accurate color across the entire workflow.
What it still teaches
The 2008 class put color first, before a single raw file was imported, and the order still makes sense. Every decision later in the day depends on the screen telling the truth. A monitor that runs warm pushes every white balance cool, and the error only shows when the print comes back or a client opens the file on a phone.
The tools have changed more than the problem. In 2008 a calibration puck was an extra purchase most enthusiasts skipped. Many displays now ship factory-calibrated and wide-gamut, which brings its own trap: an image edited in Display P3 can look flat once a browser or print lab assumes sRGB. Knowing which color space a file is in, and which one its destination expects, is the same lesson the Road Tour taught with different acronyms.
Three habits that carry over
- Calibrate the display on a schedule, not once. Panels drift.
- Edit in a room whose light doesn't swing between morning and evening.
- Soft-proof before printing, using the paper profile from the lab or the paper maker.
None of this is glamorous, which is probably why the course got it out of the way at 9 a.m. An hour on profiles is cheaper than finding the problem after a job has been delivered.