Why calibration should be your first step

Display calibration is one of the most important setup steps in Artist Reference Studio. If you work from a reference beside your easel, compare a reference with an actual drawing, or transfer measurements from the screen to paper, the dimensions shown on your display should agree with a real ruler. Do this before relying on Studio or Viewer at 100% (1:1).

A monitor normally measures image positions in screen coordinates. Those coordinates do not necessarily match the monitor’s actual physical dimensions. Two monitors may show the same nominal 10 cm segment at different lengths because of their pixel density, Windows display scaling, and DPI handling. ARS lets you correct that difference with a display calibration profile.

Calibration concerns physical length, not color. This procedure does not measure or correct brightness, white point, gamma, color gamut, or your monitor’s color profile. It also does not determine the real size of an object depicted in a photograph.

What you need

• A straight, accurate physical ruler marked in centimeters or inches.
• The monitor you intend to use for artwork references, set to the Windows resolution and scaling you ordinarily use.
• An ARS window moved entirely onto that monitor, with sufficient space to see the entire calibration ruler.

The calibration is more reliable when you view the ruler straight on and align its beginning and end carefully. You do not need to count or inspect screen pixels, measure pixel density, or enter the monitor’s diagonal size.

Calibrate a monitor, step by step

1. Open Settings… using the gear icon in the main ARS window title bar. Choose General.
2. Under Display Calibration, select Calibrate… to open the calibration window.
3. Move the calibration window onto the monitor you are calibrating. Moving the window alone does not automatically choose a profile for that display; confirm the intended profile in the profile selector.
4. Choose an existing Profile, or select Add to create one. Give it a recognizable name, such as Main 27-inch display or Drawing-table monitor, in Profile name.
5. Choose Reference length. The calibration ruler offers 5 cm or 10 cm when using centimeters, or 2 in or 4 in when using inches. A longer ruler may make endpoint alignment easier, provided it fits fully on the screen.
6. Place your real ruler against the monitor, aligned with the start mark of the on-screen ruler. Hold it still. Move the Scale adjustment slider until the on-screen endpoint coincides with the corresponding physical measurement. You should see the on-screen ruler change length continuously.
7. Check the beginning and the endpoint again. Adjust the slider as needed. For example, if the 10 cm scale matches your physical ruler at 113.5%, the profile’s scale factor is 1.135.
8. Choose OK in the calibration window. Then choose OK in the main Settings window to save your profile and activate its scale. If you close either window using Cancel, the canceled changes are not saved.
9. Open a Studio canvas or Viewer image with known assigned physical dimensions and select 1:1. Confirm a 10 cm span on screen measures 10 cm on your physical ruler.

Tip: The ruler is a measurement aid, not a picture to be resized with the window. Its length changes with the slider; the calibration window itself is intended to remain stable. If the longest ruler does not fit on a particular display, select a shorter reference length. There is no need to scroll a ruler while holding a physical ruler in place.

Understanding the scale percentage

Scale adjustment and workspace Zoom serve different purposes:

For example, with a properly calibrated display and a Viewer canvas 40 cm wide, 100% represents 40 cm on screen (if the display is large enough to show all of it); 50% represents 20 cm. Fit to View is a convenient window-fitting operation and generally does not mean physical 1:1.

The correction is applied to screen rendering, not to the project’s stored measurements. Internally, ARS retains dimensions in centimeters, even if you choose to display inches in General settings. Changing centimeters to inches changes the unit labels and numerical conversions, not the actual size or calibration factor.

Multiple monitors and saved profiles

You can maintain several named profiles. Choose Add for another monitor, enter a meaningful name, move the calibration window to that screen, and repeat the ruler procedure. Use Remove to delete a profile you no longer need. A profile records its calibration factor and can be selected again without manually reentering the factor.

Current behavior: profile selection is manual. ARS does not automatically identify the monitor hosting the Studio or Viewer window and switch profiles when you drag that window to another display. Before measuring or using 1:1, select the calibration profile corresponding to the screen on which the content is being viewed. If you move ARS to another monitor, select that monitor’s profile in Settings → General.

Different screens may legitimately have different correction values. Do not copy a percentage from one monitor to another without checking it against a real ruler.

When to recalibrate

Recheck the on-screen ruler after changing monitors or making Windows display changes, particularly resolution, scaling, or DPI-related settings. Also recalibrate if you replace the monitor or observe that a known 10 cm span is no longer physically 10 cm. A saved profile is a measurement for a particular display configuration, not a universal constant.

If no calibrated profile is selected, ARS can still show a nominal 100% using its logical screen scale, but physical accuracy is not guaranteed. The presence of a 100% label alone does not prove that a screen measurement is correct.

What the calibration does – and does not – affect

Studio and Viewer use the same physical interpretation of 100%. Its physical 1:1 relies on the assigned Viewer canvas dimensions: a photograph’s pixel width does not tell ARS how wide its subject is in the real world. Set the canvas dimensions correctly before treating an on-screen reference as a full-size transfer guide.

Journal image previews are different: they are documentation viewers and generally do not carry a measured physical canvas size. Their preview magnification must not be treated as a measurement of artwork length.

Troubleshooting