Protect Research at Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago houses one of the world's most important and extensive collections of specimens from the natural and cultural worlds. Globally and nationally, it holds an iconic status as a leader in scientific research and education.

But new, short-sighted plans to address years of borrowing for a variety of exhibits and construction threaten to destroy the museum's research standing and credibility, by laying off scientists and curatorial staff that work on and help maintain the 25 million specimens housed there.

Click here to sign a petition urging the Trustees to reconsider proposed cuts to scientific research.

Adjusting the Tone Curve based on the Micro Nano Color Checker

Since X-Rite has discontinued the mini color checker, many new imaging projects are relying on the Micro Nano Color Checker from Image Science Associates.

Here is how you can optimize your exposure in Adobe Lightroom using the Tone Curve tool based on target values of the Micro Nano Color Checker. Thanks to Bruce Lindbloom for publishing the recommended values.

Start with a well exposed image (the whitest square should read about 247RGB or 97%)

Open an image with the color checker in Lightroom's Develop module.

Under Tone Curve, select "Linear" from the menu.

Magnify the image to 1:1.

Position the color checker in the center of the frame using the Navigator.

Click on the Tone Curve adjustment tool to select it.

Position the tool over the third gray square from the right.

Click and drag the mouse down until the RGB values read about 50%.

Position the tool over the left-most dark square.

Click and drag the mouse down until the RGB values read about 29%.

Your resulting curve will look similar to this.