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From the same hymn sheet?
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I have a relatvely new PC with a nice big shiny new monitor. Last night when I went to print something I noticed that my monitor didn’t match my printer at all. The colours were much more vibrant and light. I changed settings on my monitor so that it’s now as close as possible to what’s going to be printed from my printer. The problem I have now is when I look in the critique section some of the postings I have looked at before now look completetly different.
I’m sure you’ve all probably addressed this before but is there a way to ensure we are all seeing roughly the same thing? e.g. some sort of callibration test image or something.
You need to calibrate/profile your monitor. Until you do that, you’re really wasting your time doing anything else. Once your monitor is correct you’ll have a reference point to start from and can then get to work on your printer.
I can highly recommend the Monaco Optix XR or Optix XR Pro as a monitor profiling solution. I used to profile my monitor visually using Adobe Gamma. Two years ago at Focus on Imaging I discussed the whole issue of monitor profiling with an independent colour management consultant and ended up buying the Monaco Optix XR. Just so you know, he got no money out of it, he had no affiliation with the company I purchased from – so I think it’s fair to say his recommendation was truely independent. Subsequent research on the interent confirms that the Optix XR is one of the better solutions (if not the best) out there – it’s also great value for money.
The results, when I first used it were astonishing – there was an immediate and significant improvement to be seen. I now profile my monitor at least once a month and often avery two weeks (as the monitor’s characteristics shift over time). You can buy the Optix XR and other profiling solutions from ColourConfidence – an excellent site, well worth a look even if you don’t buy from them. They’ve got a nice little bundle available at the momet which includes the Monaco Optix XR all for ? 99.00! That’s a lot less than I paid for it 2 years ago! Click here to view
i’ve actually just bought the spyder 2, which is a calibration software and hardware which has received rave reviews, so i’ll be calibrating my screen this weekend and if you like i’ll post the before and after picture. With this software you can also calibrate your printer so that what you see on your screen is what you’ll see on your print.
I will certainly look into both these products. If we all calibrate our monitors is it then taken for granted that we will all see the same when looking at a photo in the critique section?
shrapnel wrote:
i’ve actually just bought the spyder 2, which is a calibration software and hardware which has received rave reviews, so i’ll be calibrating my screen this weekend and if you like i’ll post the before and after picture. With this software you can also calibrate your printer so that what you see on your screen is what you’ll see on your print.
Did you get the Pro version? I know when I was doing my research on this some time ago, only the Pro version was rated as being accurate and reliable. However, that was some time ago and they have most likely fixed the problems they had with the earlier Spyders and I’d say the Spyder 2 is a much better animal than the original Spyder. In fact the Spyder2 Express got a good review on Ephotozine
Any solution is going to be better than doing it by eye alone. We spend thousand’s on digital cameras and lenses in the quest for the best image and then go an flush it all down the toilet by working on un-profiled montiors! Profiling solutions have become so affordable now that there really is no excuse not to use one!
ecp wrote:
shrapnel wrote:
i’ve actually just bought the spyder 2, which is a calibration software and hardware which has received rave reviews, so i’ll be calibrating my screen this weekend and if you like i’ll post the before and after picture. With this software you can also calibrate your printer so that what you see on your screen is what you’ll see on your print.
Did you get the Pro version? I know when I was doing my research on this some time ago, only the Pro version was rated as being accurate and reliable. However, that was some time ago and they have most likely fixed the problems they had with the earlier Spyders and I’d say the Spyder 2 is a much better animal than the original Spyder. In fact the Spyder2 Express got a good review on Ephotozine
Any solution is going to be better than doing it by eye alone. We spend thousand’s on digital cameras and lenses in the quest for the best image and then go an flush it all down the toilet by working on un-profiled montiors! Profiling solutions have become so affordable now that there really is no excuse not to use one!
i only got the express version, as the pro version is about 4 or 5 times the price. Secondly i don’t have a printer so the suite version made no sense as that enables you to calibrate both monitor and printer, with very few differences for the monitor tweaking.
The main reasons i got it were: when printing i’ve seen huge differences between what i see on screen and on paper, and lots of comments you get on pictures don’t make sense sometimes because of the huge differences between people’s monitors, so i want to be able to see my own and other peoples shots with the correct colors and lightness etc…
The pro version looks awesome, but i’ve only been taking shots for just over a year now and frankly wouldn’t use a tenth of the potential of the pro version, so i’ll stick to express :D
shrapnel wrote:
i only got the express version
At least you got something! It does seem very good value for money alright. Like you, I noticed a huge improvement once I started profiling my monitor.
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