A few comments - which I think others have covered, but I just wanted to reiterate.
chrisb99 - your monitor calibration strategy is now correct. Start from the manufacturer's profile for the monitor (or sRGB if you can't find one, as it's often close), then tune with Adobe Gamma or similar. You're better off using a colorimeter based solution (I use Monaco OPTIX XR Pro), but software calibration will have to do until you've saved up.
Some LCDs are better than others. It's important to avoid those that use 6 bits internally, as they're poor for photographic work. I believe 6 bit LCDs are more likely on a screen with fast response. My Dell 2005FPW is an 8 bit LCD with reasonable response, and a contrast ratio that isn't excessive - I find it works well enough for Photoshop work.
If you're after a calibration setup, do consider the Monaco options. One possibility, if you don't want the high end monitor features of OPTIX XR Pro, but want a shot at calibrating an inkjet printer and you have a reasonable flat bed scanner which allows you to disable any colour management, is to buy EZcolor with OPTIX XR. This gives you the EZcolor system for calibrating printers used with RGB drivers (virtually anything apart from PostScript printers or an inkjet driven via a RIP), as well as the same screen calibration features as the non-Pro version of OPTIX XR.
If £300 is too much, what about OPTIX XR for around £160?
The only thing with both these options is that if you want the OPTIX XR Pro feature set, you have to buy the OPTIX XR Pro software standalone, which is quite expensive. However, most people can do without it.
uktrailmonster - I'm unclear why you're apparently using a device profile as your working space. You should work in a device independent colour space, such as sRGB, Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB (they're in order of wideness of gamut - ProPhoto RGB is the widest; all three of these are possible in Adobe Camera Raw).
If you have a camera profile that's valid for the settings you're using (though cameras are hard to profile outside a studio environment), I'd suggest assigning that profile, then converting immediately to a device independent colour space.
I work on a hardware calibrated monitor, shoot RAW, make what adjustments I can in Adobe Camera Raw (white balance is usually set using a WhiBal, exposure etc. is adjusted here, and often I set a curve, too), then come out of Adobe Camera Raw into a device independent space in 16 bits before continuing to work in Photoshop (sometimes it's just resize, sharpen and save - all adjustments, including a crop, are done in Camera RAW if possible).
The output side of things is my workflow not well calibrated; when I do use my Canon inkjet, I'm using Canon ink and Canon paper with the Canon profiles - as I only have a 4 colour inkjet, I'm not going to get stunning results. It's not worth spending a lot of money trying to calibrate this printer.
When I have a batch of pictures to output, I'll send a batch of pictures out to a digital lab that provides profiles, converting to the profile colour space before I build the files for output (digital lab kit doesn't obey embedded profiles - you need to provide files in the device colour space).
David
