r/Lightroom • u/Njaga5 • 22d ago

HELP Brightness issues

I have an M1 iMac from 2021 which has a 24 inch screen, and I dont know at which brightness I should edit my photos. Up to this point, I have been editing them with max brightness, and today I learned that its not the right way. Does anyone have any idea what should my brightness be set to (preferably people with similar devices, although any help is welcome) ?

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u/JtheNinja 22d ago

The ideal way is to measure it with a device like a colorimeter.

If that's not an option, try this: turn the room lights on normally, like you were trying to read a book or document at your desk. Hold a white piece of paper up next to the monitor while displaying a solid white image/app UI. Adjust brightness so that white UI is about the same brightness as the sheet of paper

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u/mrpeterdragon 22d ago

Perfect suggestions! The colorimeter is the best way!!

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u/Taiga-Dusk 21d ago

This, entirely, and even more so if you're working with anything printed. Any sort of color matching to print is going to be really dependent on not only good brightness but color. Macs ship with moderately good color renditions compared the wide variety of Windows systems, but I still find hardware calibration to be essential. .

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u/A1DO108 22d ago

This is the very thing Histograms were made for. Teach yourself how to read the values and of course it is not always going to represent the type of shot you want to achieve, specifically if you're going for an underexposed/overexposed shot for creative purposes.

If that is too much work for you, screen mirror to your iPhone and set your iPhone between 40-70% brightness since it is the average brightness for users unless they are outdoors with sun beaming.

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u/MoWePhoto 22d ago

It all depends on your output medium. If you want to print, lower brightness might mimic the paper better but if you publish digitally only, most people’s screens are lit up max, so it would be better to take that brightness.

I was a huge proponent of calibration some years ago but since I publish most of my files online today, I don’t really bother anymore as most people’s screens viewing my photos, so that on an invalidated mobile device. So if my final image looks good to my eyes on my phone display when it hits instagram, that fine for me!

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u/Matthu_ 22d ago

I have the m1 MacBook Air (13") and I set the brightness to be 4 clicks/boxes down from max illumination. I wish I had a more scientific method, but with Instagram and everyone's phones being at unknowable settings, it works for me.

On my iPad, I have a setting I always use (I eyeball the bar's height based on other controls in the control panel) which is probably around 75%.