monitor calibration question.

[jjmucker]

I know this has been asked sooo many times so i apologise in advance. :D

I really need to invest in one of these and im hoping a few of you guys could chip in with some suggestions who have experience with them.

im not 100% happy with the prints i get back from the lab in regards to colour etc. As i dont need to calibrate a printer, just my monitor to match my Labs screen what would you recommend is the best calibrator for me, bearing in mind i dont need it to calibrate an in house printer etc. just my own monitor.

once i have it setup my lab is going to send me my prints back free of charge so i can get it setup the way it should be which is pretty decent i think.

Thanks.
John

[Tapeman]

One can get lucky and have a monitor that's close. I think it matters more if you print at home. I never calibrated mine and wasted some paper & ink. I got Spyder Pro2 for Christmas and I would say it makes a difference, but not a huge one. At some point you will probably want to calibrate your monitor(s).

[jjmucker]

thanks. Ive just purchased the spyder 2. hopefully for me it will make a big difference. its somrthing ive been meaning to buy for a while now

[zagiace]

While calibrating to your labs screen would be fairly dificult considering all the variables, using a spyder 2 would certainly help.
I know you say you do not need to calibrate to an in house printer you do need to calibrate to a printer.
Just not yours.
Does your lab provide an output profile for you to use? Or do they want you to print a target through them and that is the free print you refer to.

[jjmucker]

yeah. here is what they wrote.

"Once your monitor has been calibrated, what you see should be very close to what we see and print. We recommend you have some images printed as a calibration test. Mark in your instructions that this is the purpose of your order and we will complete it free of charge.

Select a few images which give a good range of lighting conditions, skin tones, blacks and whites, and we will send you two sets of prints. One set we will colour correct and the other we will print straight. From here you will be able to compare our straight output to your own monitor, and you will be able to see if much more correction of your monitor is required"

[zagiace]

well, that could work but there are issues with that type of work flow.
A monitor calibration is going to ensure your monitor displays the most amount of information possible. It is not going to emulate their printer. Once you do calibrate your monitor you should not modify it as they are recommend. To do so negates the spyder 2.
You can however create an output profile for their printers.

[jjmucker]

well, that could work but there are issues with that type of work flow.
A monitor calibration is going to ensure your monitor displays the most amount of information possible. It is not going to emulate their printer. Once you do calibrate your monitor you should not modify it as they are recommend. To do so negates the spyder 2.
You can however create an output profile for their printers.


an output profile? would that simply be a user defined setting were i simply activate it when working on images to be printed/sent to the lab?

[zagiace]

An output profile will describe to your computer how their printer will interpret color.
You have control on the over color of your monitor with the buttons but often you see the shadows are warm while the highlights are cool
And that is what a output profile can do. It will describe to your monitor how their printer will handle color.

[jjmucker]

Ok im slghtly confused lol. Once i get my calibrator and get it up and running im sure i will reignite this thread for more help. :D

[René Damkot]

I think what zagiace is trying to say is: Get your hands on the printers printer profile, so you can use that for softproofing.
IMO most images should be printed well however if your screen is calibrated well, the printer does his job and the image is sRGB.