Lost in Calibrationland

[LarryH]

Okay -- my Optical Spyder was delivered and I promptly created a profile for my monitor.

I'm using a Canon 820D printer. I'm not exactly sure how to calibrate that to the monitor, short of spending another $200 with Colorvision for more software.

Would a proper ICC file for my printer be the right way to go? And, if so, where might I find one? I've done some web searches to no avail.

Thanks. One day, I'll have this right.

[Conk]

Slejhamer is the guy you want to talk to.

[slejhamer]

Sorry, I don't know the Canon printers, but I thought the newer models supported ICM, which attempts to color match to your monitor.

If your printer supports ICM, try following along with this post which was Epson-specific but hopefully you can modify the steps to your needs:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10081

Good luck.

[john_houghton]

A lot depends on what paper and inks you want to use in your printer. If you stick to Canon, then you should be able to use the ICM driver settings. If you want to use 3rd party inks and/or papers, then you will probably need printer profiles. Custom profile makers generally stipulate that their profiles are strictly for your use only, so you are not likely to find many offered on the web.

If you want to stick with just one or two papers, I think the best plan is to have custom profiles made by a reputable supplier. If you like trying different papers and inks, then you can try generating your own. I have Profile Prism, which is comparatively cheap. The latest version produces quite reasonable profiles. If any tweaking is needed, I use the Color Darkroom profile editor.

John