Printable View
I'm in the market for some calibration stuff for my monitor I guess. Prices go from $80 to over $2000. When I check reviews,half say they'regreatand half saythey're crappy. I only have one monitor and basically need it to make sure the colors I see at homewill match what I recieve in the mail. Thanks in advance.
Calibrating the monitor does not calibrate the printer, but generally, it does a pretty good job of assuring prints reasonably match. You must calibrate your monitor, reasonably good software / hardware like colorvision will do it.
Some image editing software will let you "soft proof" the final image by using the printer profile to display what the image will look like when printed.
Photoshop will, lightroom won't. http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/soft-proofing.shtml
The price goes up a lot, if you want supurb results.
Well, I have been using the Spyder3 Pro monitor calibration unit for about a year and am very happy with the results. This thing made a world of difference with my prints---so, if your on a budget this type of system is certainly worth considering.
Bob
Thanks for the reply scaleusa. I've downloaded the site tutorial and will read it tonight. I'll also look at the Spyder Bob listed. I think it was amazon that I looked this up last, and reviews were all over the place. I also didn't want to spend $80 only to find that for $30 more I would have gotten triple the benefit. I'm not a pro, but would like for my pics to be as close to what I see as possible within reason (ie a yellow duck shouldn't print out to be a Canada Goose)[:D]
I use the spyder 2 monitor calibrator, its the basic version, and does a reasonable job, and it was inexpensive. My output colors arenot perfect, but the next step up is the printer calibration kit, it runs over $400, and is not really easy to use.
I'm satisfied with the prints I get using my epson 3800 printer, I think a good printer is the first thing to get. I don't have critical color matching required like someone who is making proofs for eventual publication in a magazine. If the print is reasonably close to what I see on the monitor, I'm happy.
+1 for the Spyder 3 (I use the express model). Prints are pretty damn close to WYSIWYG for me.
Colormunki Photo will calibrate your screen and your printer. Works like a charm.
I decided to go with the Spyder version and will order it shortly. I can't help but think it was on sale a couple months ago for $99. It's only money:) Thanks for all the help!