A recent survey conducted by X-Rite with almost 500 participants found that photographers in the UK are, on average, losing nearly £10,000 per year by not using colour management. A lack of monitor calibration is proving the most costly with an average of £5,200 per year lost in editing time, compared with a lack of white balance control costing £3,700 per year and wasted ink and paper from inaccurate prints accounting for £1,000 per year. “Talking to our customers, we have known that the benefits of superior image quality, consistency and peace of mind when editing are all powerful reasons why photographers and videographers use X-Rite’s world leading colour management solutions,” says Geoffrey Clements, Managing Director at X-Rite Photo Europe. “This survey has, for the first time, given us clear data on how much time is being lost by photographers who aren’t using colour management. It shows that photographers at all levels should realise the benefits of time and money savings when they start utilising colour management in their workflow.”

Press Release

UK Photographers Losing £9,900 a Year On Average By Not Colour Managing Their Workflow

● Time lost is equivalent to one working day per week
● One 25 sheet box of paper wasted per month on average

Birmingham, UK, January 13 th 2016 A recent survey conducted by X-Rite Photo Europe with almost 500 participants found that photographers in the UK are on average, losing nearly £10,000 per year by not using colour management. A lack of monitor calibration is proving the most costly with an average of £5,200 per year lost in editing time, compared with a lack of white balance control costing £3,700 per year and wasted ink and paper from inaccurate prints accounting for £1,000 per year.

The survey, which was sent to photographers who had attended X-Rite photographic trade shows and competitions all over Europe during 2014 and 2015, also assessed photographer’s habits and beliefs regarding colour management, their use of video and the importance of mobile devices for colour accurate display of images.

Capture – The Key Statistics
● UK photographers lost 3 hours per week setting white balance after the event, costing £72 per week or £3,700 per year
● An X-Rite ColorChecker Passport costing £82 would repay its investment in just two weeks

Edit – The Key Statistics
● UK Photographers lost 4 ½ hours per week correcting inaccurate screen colour costing them £100 per week or £5,200 per year
● An X-Rite ColorMunki Display costing £139 would repay its investment in just two weeks

The combined hours lost to photographers on average through not using white balance or screen calibration is the equivalent of losing 1 day per week.

Print – The Key Statistics
● UK Photographers throw away six prints per week, costing £19 per week or £1,000 per year
● On average a lack of print colour management will mean 27 photographers throwing away one tree’s worth of paper per year*
● An X-Rite ColorMunki Photo costing £414 would repay its investment in just two weeks (A ColorMunki photo calibrates screen and print)

*Based on an average yield of 8,500 sheets per tree*

Other statistics from the survey include:
● 81.5% of photographers classed themselves as a ‘Keen Amateur’ or ‘Prosumer’ – professional photographers make up less than 20% of the survey’s database.
● 21% of UK respondents said they colour calibrated their mobile device.
● 80% of UK photographers said they owned colour management equipment,

Discussing the importance of the survey, Geoffrey Clements, Managing Director at X-Rite Photo Europe commented:

“Talking to our customers, we have known that the benefits of superior image quality, consistency and peace of mind when editing are all powerful reasons why photographers and videographers use X-Rite’s world leading colour management solutions. This survey, has for the first time, given us clear data on how much time is being lost by photographers who aren’t using colour management. It shows that photographers at all levels should realise the benefits of time and money savings when they start utilising colour management in their workflow.”

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