I just uploaded a photo of Lavender Lady lilac. On my laptop screen, the photo is the correct color - pale lavender. When I was done uploading it, it appears very pinkish on my bigger desktop screen. Kind of to the point that it looks like a misplaced photo. What causes the difference in color tone between devices? My laptop is much newer than my desktop screen.

Ugh. This is an ugly topic. To compound things, go to Costco and have that photo printed...and you'll see a third, different iteration.

Remember how we'd have to play with brightness/contrast/hue/whatever knobs on our old color TVs? And if you were in a department store looking at a wall of TVs, the same picture varied by model?

So, too, is it with monitors (and photo printers, to a degree).

The way to fix it is by calibrating the monitor. It's pretty complicated. What I'd suggest for you is finding a picture that you know the colors of (even maybe a multi-color sample from online), putting the monitors side by side, and tuning them so they match.

Also, see here:
http://www.digitalcameraworld....

There is another alternative, a calibration tool called "Spyder2" by ColorVision. I have it and it perfects and synchronizes my color precisely. By now the series is probably Spyder3 or 4, as I've had it for several years, and if you have several computers, synchronizing them for photography is important. This is Mac and PC compatible. Hope this helps. http://www.colorvision.com

Fleur, sounds interesting, how much does the Spyder cost?

Mcash: The price several years ago was about +/-$100. By going to the website http://www.colorvision.com I'm sure you'll get the precise price and version now available. This investment was worth the price to me. If you have any other specific questions, please feel free to tree-mail me.

Spyder5EXPRESS monitor calibration is $129.00

http://spyder.datacolor.com/po...

Here, let me make this easier yet. Yes, you need to calibrate your screen for viewing and especially before editing pictures. Download a FREE file called Test Screens (mine is V. 2.5) from Programming.de. (If you have trouble finding it, tree mail me and I'll give you a copy.) Use keys F2 to F8 to change the pattern on the monitor. One of the last screens is B&W blocks, very useful for adjusting the contrast on your laptop screen (you do this by tilting it.) Gene

I've got a similar problem. I cannot make a decent photo of any violet flower, my cell phone camera turns it blue immediately. Unwanted editing by default)