well, I just got a laptop for christmas and I was wondering if I should move all my pics over from my desktop to my laptop and hand down my desktop to the kiddies. If I do that, I'm concerned with a couple of things and wanted to know if anyone could set the record straight for me. I don't have a calibrated monitor on either of my computers, but I'm worried that if I only use my laptop that I won't be able to edit my pictures correctly. Does anyone use their laptop only? If so, what do you do or use to help you edit pics correctly?

I did a quick search on here but didn't find anything but I must admit that I didn't look too far. I would greatly appreciate any input.

thanks in advance!

Hey welcome to Dgrin!!

Well.. There are somethings you need to consider when using laptop only. Work space on the laptop's screen isn't as big as the desktop (unless you only have a 15' monitor.) This is also dependent on the specs of both your laptop and desktop.

I use my laptop to do my editing as my desktop has been AWOL for a couple months. But I prefer my larger display on my desktop.

If your laptop has a "brightview" screen, I would heavily caution against using it to process photos. My laptop with the birghtview screen is absolutely awful and images will only look right on that screen.

That said, if you're willing to pick up another monitor, most laptops now support a second monitor. When I upgraded to the laptop I kept my LCD when I got rid of the desktop and just run Lightroom on that screen.

I have owned only laptops for the past eight years or so and that's where I do all of my photo work. I do look at my final images on my wife's desktop prior to making them available for public view just in case I screwed up somehow. Someday I will get a Huey to calibrate my monitor, but until then this system has worked pretty well.

Well, it all depends on what you do with your pics. If you do a lot of printing or are trying to sell prints, you would get better results if you calibrated the monitor and used soft-proofing. This is true of both laptops and desktop monitors.

Some laptops are better than others. Look for high resolution and a matte screen--lots of people have complained about the new glossy screens. I haven't owned a desktop machine in years, as I far prefer the ergonomics of laptops. I am not a pro, however, so what works for me may not be appropriate for you.

thanks everyone for your replys. they have been very helpful. If I wanted to calibrate my monitors, is there one software that is the standard or are they pretty much all the same???