I need some advice on how to get my WHCC prints to match my screen display LIKE THEY USED TO for the past two years. Ever since I had to re-install my OS due to a hard drive crash a few weeks ago I have been unable to get matching prints. I'm convinced it's something on my end and not in WHCC's printing process.
I have been working with WHCC customer service on this issue on-and-off for the past few weeks but even though they are very good with getting back to me daily it doesn't seem to be getting me any closer to a solution.
I'm willing to do anything at this point...including replacing my perfectly good 4-year old monitor (HP 2509B), my SpyderPro 3 colorimeter, or my video card (EVGA 8800GS 384MB 192-bit GDDR3).
The most recent experiment I did was follow WHCC's instructions for getting a set of matching 8x10 prints (which they comped me for). I was asked to first reset my monitor settings to defaults and to make sure the color setting was at 6500K. I then calibrated the display with my SpyderPro 3, carefully following all instructions. After that I used LR4 to crop and then upload 5 random photos that contained a broad range of colors.
When I got my prints back I noticed that the colors were much warmer than what was on my monitor. In one of the photos my wife is wearing a hot pink sweater and on the print it almost looks like a salmon pink color.
In addition, the prints seem to be a tad darker especially in the facial tones. The room I work in is very small (maybe 8x10) and all I have is a basic overhead ceiling fixture (with two 60W LED bulbs) and a small halogen lamp on my desk. I have one small window that catches only the early morning sunlight briefly. None of these produce intense light while I am working so just to be sure I stepped out onto my deck this morning to view the prints in natural daylight since it was brighter than my room (but overcast with clouds). I still wasn't satisfied with the warmth of the prints...a bit too much.
I you are a WHCC client and have consistent results could you either tell me what your configuration is (i.e. what monitor you use, what colorimeter you use, video card, etc).
I should also note that WHCC recommends the use of the ColorMunki colorimeter. Would it be worth making this investment or should I stick with my SpyderPro 3? When I contacted Datacolor about my problems they told me that the SpyderPro 4 actually produces something near 25% more accurate results but backed up that statement by claiming that the older model I had was not inferior to the newer model.
Seriously, I'm willing to do anything at this point.
