Calibrating & profiles

[dc2]

You know looking at some of the different reviews on the web regarding calibrating monitors and making profiles , its enough to put off any one considering printing at home .
So tell us your experiences with these issues.
Good and bad .
Thanks in advance.

[Blinky]

We printed in a shop, two Epson P2200s, and Epson 10000 and a large format Xerox color laser.

The key to getting the closest color matches (in terms of color management) was keeping the loop closed. Devce profiles work but the translation from one to the next has to be controlled and logical. Scanner/Camera --> Software working color space --> ColorOutput/Printer Do those conversions by the book and you will have a good output file.

I'm sold on doing a color correction step in software which is how I make sure the numbers are right before going to output. I don't use a calibrated monitor, I use Adobe Gamma and never trust my screen for accurate color.

The real problems come when you try to print colors that can't be printed with a given device. How often have your reds been too blue or too yellow? It's nearly impossible to print an accurate primary color wheel on an inkjet because of the way yellow and cyan compete. You have to accept some tradeoffs when printing to an inkjet just like you do when printing to offset, they're both CMYK processes, the difference in methods for spreading ink is why the different gamut.

To me, print at home but expect to spend more time, money and frustration... you will ultimately get a better print than sending it out once you have your process down... which is when you start having clogged heads, buckled paper, full waste ink pads, blablabla.

Chip

[cyclohexane]

I don't use a calibrated monitor, I use Adobe Gamma and never trust my screen for accurate color.

This is what I'm doing too. =)

[dc2]

Thanks .
I cannot use adobe gamma on my Dell ultra sharp LCD screen .
I also believe a lot of calibration devices wont work on this screen or rather the software will only allow
a basic and not advanced mode to be used during set up .
I read in some reviews people who tried both set ups [basic /advanced ] got very different results.
Has nobody made this process easy peezy ?

[cyclohexane]

Right now, I'm laptop-based, but my screen at home is a large Dell LCD. It- Adobe Gamma- works just fine, as far as I can tell.

[dc2]

There is no contrast adjustment on the ultrasharp Dell.

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by dc2

There is no contrast adjustment on the ultrasharp Dell.

Then assume contrast is already at maximum and just use the brightness. My Samsung LCD (which is 4 years old) is not as good as my CRT for tonal rendition. I have a dual head setup on my edit machine... menus and stuff on the LCD and image on the CRT. My CRT is even older than the LCD and I KNOW the color is off. I balance color based on the luminosity numbers and by balancing to a grey or white standard in the image.

I just never judge color on a monitor, too many variables.

[TonyK]

I have a 23" Sony LCD and use the Spyder2Pro to calibrate my system.

Printing to my Canon S530D I get reasonable output and going to WHCC I get a closer match between screen and print.

If I were needing a sure match in colors I would run a fully calibrated and controlled setup (closed loop) and believe I could achieve my needs. Why? Because I know people who do that.

Peace,

[ScottBuckel]

I have a Sony 20 inch LCD monitor and I regulary profile (calibrate my monitor). I have found that it is relatively easy to do it. I learned most of it from Tim Grey's book, "Color Confidence". I seldomly have problems making prints once I had every set up, profiles for the printer, and prifing my monitor. I use GreyTag MacBeth Eye One Display and it is easy to use.

Scott

[Michele]

Well.. I am not sure if I really understand what all I am doing, but I don't know for sure if I really use profiles. I do calibrate my monitor with Color Vision Spyder and have done so ever since I started to shoot digital. I do the basic route. I have tried many times to calibrate using a profile for my printer, and so many different kinds of settings, that I was never really successful at it consistently. At times I would get a good result and at other times, I don't. I took a class on printing, calibrating online, but even after that, I still didn't get the consistency. So, I decided to just stick with my lab for printing and stop wasting money on ink, paper and wasting time on printing at home when I could be do other things like catching up on editing..

I know this may not be what you wanted to hear, but this has been my experience with printing at home. I wish I could of had better success at it, but maybe one day in the future I will.. Till then, I use MPIX.

Regards,
Michele

[dc2]

Thankss to all,
Chip I had about 3 attempts with this screen and al though everything appears slightly more red on the screen my prints seem to be closer and more vibrant .
The contrast is a bit off but as its preset to around the mid point mark I guess I can expect that .
Still its better than it was for printing .
Thanks a lot.
Have a karma.

[dc2]

Well I have decided to get the eye one display 2 [should arrive tommorrow]
will let you all know the results .

[Réjan]

Hi !

Is Adobe Gamma available for download ?

I have both iMac and PC, and I can see lots of difference on these two monitors. Usually I use my SONY SDM-S71R TFT 17'' monitor to send photo for the web and friends, for it is more accurate.
On the other hand, image is great on my iMac-intel, but a little dark sometimes. I have the standart imac profile on colourSync options.

Do you think Adobe Gamma can help me putting these to "babes" equal in its performance ?

Thanks.

[dc2]

Originally Posted by Réjan

Hi !

Is Adobe Gamma available for download ?

I have both iMac and PC, and I can see lots of difference on these two monitors. Usually I use my SONY SDM-S71R TFT 17'' monitor to send photo for the web and friends, for it is more accurate.
On the other hand, image is great on my iMac-intel, but a little dark sometimes. I have the standart imac profile on colourSync options.

Do you think Adobe Gamma can help me putting these to "babes" equal in its performance ?

Thanks.

Is it not already on your system ? Go to start > all programmes> start up > adobe gamma.

[Réjan]

No...

[cyclohexane]

Adobe Gamma should be found on the Control Panel in Windows XP; you may have to switch to Classic View to see it.

[Réjan]

Yes, it was there...thanks a lot !

[Mark McCall]

It is possible to get accurate and dependable color with on a CRT, and in some cases, an LCD with a professional level calibrator. But there's other things to consider...white balance in camera.

We use both the Spider and Monaco monitor calibration systems in the studio. We don't use Adobe Gamma as a profile created with a 3rd party monitor calibrator will interfere with AG. Your custom calibration will be the default profile when your computer starts up.
If memory serves, the Spider calibration even suggests deleting the AG profile.

But good color management begins with a properly white balanced camera.
After that, a calibrated monitor. White House Custom Color requires all new accounts to send in 5 8x10's for printing to compare with your calibrated monitor. They'll continue to reprint all 5 8x10's until you get the color your after.
Some CRT's perform better than others. Some LCD's are profileable, but some lesser expensive ones are not.

For us, in a high volume studio, color and contrast are critical.
Our prints from WHCC match our monitors perfectly.
We trust the color we see on screen because we've white balanced the camera beforehand, AND we've calibrated the monitor beforehand as well.

Monitors must also be calibrated regularly over time (they'll shift) and should be allowed to warm up before doing any color specific work. Otherwise, you'll get a different balance at the beginning of an artwork session that you'll get at the end.

[dc2]

Well I bought the gretagmacbeth eye-one display2 and I am very pleased with the results from it . though only thing I am not sure about is the default for re caliberating is set to one week . this seems a bit to quick .
Any one know how often you should caliberate on an LCD?

[Mark McCall]

Most calibration systems have an attachment for the 'puck' that reads you monitor. It's a like a rubber seal.
The steps are the same for LCD or CRT in the software.