🚀 go-pugleaf

PS 

      >I'm assuming a good reference image is one that offers a good variety
      of hues and contrasts.




I like the Photodisc PDI image because of the various skin tones (the screen and printer have to be pretty good to get them all right � a lot of people can tell naturally if skin tones look right or is correctly saturated.

Second, the desaturated gray bar should be completely neutral and distinct steps between each shade.

I've used the PDI image on countless Photoshop monitors � along with desaturating the PDI image in Photoshop (Command+Shift+U) � it is very useful for quickly quickly evaluating a Photoshop monitor.

Also, just as valuable is printing it to see how well it prints (and how well it matches the monitor).

+++++++

While my simple PROOFING ANALOGY doesn't address the pitfalls of relying on a bad monitor to evaluate and adjust digital color, it does make two important facts about Photoshop and professional color-managed printing workflows:

1) The printer can PROOF (print) the source file faithfully regardless of how right or wrong the monitor is set up, and

2) The monitor can PROOF (display) the source file faithfully regardless of how right or wrong the printer is set up.
Getting a known good file (like the Adobe RGB Photodisc reference image) into Photoshop allows me to evaluate the monitor alongside the print to help me identify where the problem is occurring.