If you're using Lightroom to manage your photos, you are probably serious about your photographs. And if you are indeed serious, then practicing good color management is essential to getting the most out of your work. I recommend that everyone using Lightroom (or Photoshop, or any other photo editing tool for that matter) get and use a color calibration tool.

Which tool you use doesn't matter as much as the fact that you use one. At this point, I'm using the awkwardly named iOne Display 2 from X-Rite along with the ColorEyes Display Pro software on my laptop and for my Apple Cinema Display. This combination produces good results for me, but that's not to say other tools can't produce good results either. The real problem comes when using the software that comes with the tools. If you're new to calibration, it feels a lot like being lost in an episode of Star Trek talking to Georgi La Forge.

Like that midterm physics test that you didn't have time to study for, what you really want is a cheat sheet. So, here's my cheat sheet to you for what to use for the set of values you'll be asked for:

• White point: D65, or 6500K
• Gamma: 2.2 (or L* if your software supports it)
• Luminance: 120-150cd/m2

That should get you going. The software included with all of the tools will go about its business, make a profile, and set your system up to use it. Then, you're done. You don't need to do anything more for Lightroom to just do the right thing. If you're curious as to why you should use the above settings, read on... (otherwise, you can safely move on now)

First, the white point and gamma numbers are what modern monitors are built around. You'll find very little disagreement on using these settings. Some software tools go a step further and let you select "native" for both white point and gamma. If you have this option, you can play with it and see if you like the results better. With some combinations of displays and calibration tools, I've seen this give a better result. Typically, however, it'll be a close match.

"But wait," some may say, "aren't Macs supposed to run with a gamma of 1.8?" It is true that the old classic Mac OS used 1.8 as a native gamma. At this point, however, that's pretty much ancient history. The Display Calibrator assistant in the Display preferences still lists 1.8 as Mac default, but modern monitors as well as the sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces are all 2.2. As far as L*, this is starting to show up in some calibration packages and is designed able to give a better representation of grey values. If you have the ability to use it, you should probably give it a try.

As far as luminance goes, some may regard using a recommendation to set brightness between 120 and 150cd/m2 a bit more controversial. Traditionally, and by this I mean 5 to 10 years ago, the color pros calibrated their displays to brightness levels of 80 or 90cd/m2. This was, in part, because they were using CRT displays and using this brightness setting produced the best results using the technology of the time. As a result, many of these pros were working in darkened cave-like rooms so that ambient lighting wouldn't overpower what they saw.

Most of you probably are using fairly modern LCD screens and certainly aren't sitting in darkened cave-like rooms. So, in order to see a full range of colors on your screen, you'll need to run things a bit brighter. Furthermore, many modern LCD screens aren't stable enough to profile when you run them at too low of a brightness setting. In my experience, the range of 120-150 is a good one to start with for most people in most conditions.

The real key to choosing a luminance setting is that you want your monitor to be bright enough to see the full range of colors, but not be so bright that the prints you make look dark in comparison. Once you're comfortable with calibrating your monitor, you can try adjusting the brightness you calibrate to so that it is comes out equivalent with the brightness of the light you view your prints in. But, at this point, we're venturing way beyond the scope of a cheat sheet.

Bottom line: Get a calibrator. Calibrate your display. Make better edits in Lightroom.