Sort of regretting my WhiBal purchase . . .

Hmmm . . . the link didn't work.

You're getting what you see back from your printers because they're fixing what they're given.

What you're seeing via the WhiBal is what you've been giving your labs. It "looks" right to you because you're compensating for your monitor. The WhiBal WB is actually correct.

YankeeMom wrote in post #10657500
Hmmm . . . the link didn't work.

Look at post again...I fixed the link

OK, but I didn't have them color correct my snapshots and they looked perfect, too. (I wanted the .19 deal!)

Wilt wrote in post #10657514
Look at post again...I fixed the link

I don't see a link any more, Wilt. I'm using IE6, though.

I see the same using Firefox.

I love my WhiBal, wouldn''t shoot do a products session without shooting it with a WhiBal first for each lighting setup. I have no problems with it, but my displays are calibrated with eye-one display 2 at least monthly.

I don't use my WhiBal anymore. Waste of cash.

cdifoto wrote in post #10657707
I don't use my WhiBal anymore. Waste of cash.

So, you just adjust in post-processing then? That's what I've been doing all along and it's worked fine.

As for my monitor -- I share enough photos here, on my Flickr, and Facebook and if I had a real calibration problem, I can't believe that not one person would have said something. Also, when I see critiques of other photos here and there is a color/WB problem that is mentioned, I can see that as well.

No -- either I'm not using the card right (yet) or it's just a tool that isn't necessary, thanks to WB correction in DPP and other PP programs. (At least for me.)

Thanks for all the feedback, though. It's frustrating, but I appreciate others take on it.

WhiBa is the best target I have, but it's not a silver bullet. WB is a real frustration in problematic light (low light).

Thought I would complicate things further...
I use an xrite passport to establish a profile for my camera in a given lighting situation. It has saved me an enormous amount of time. It also has options for correct or cooler or warmer white balance.
To the OP... IMO do hardware calibrate your monitor. Until you do, you are just stabbing around blindly.

SkipD wrote in post #10657619
I don't see a link any more, Wilt. I'm using IE6, though.

I see the same using Firefox.

Just pasted it to this reply,

YankeeMom wrote in post #10657725
So, you just adjust in post-processing then? That's what I've been doing all along and it's worked fine.

Pretty much. My cameras are always set to 5500K. Most of the time it's right. When it's not, it's usually tungsten so I'll change it to that in post.

If I want to set a custom white balance (shooting JPEG for instance, which is rare anymore), I'll do it with an old school grey card. They come in 8x10" size and can be cut up into pocketable sizes without crying over the cost.

Wilt wrote in post #10658067
Just pasted it to this reply,

as well as edited my earlier post.

photobucket seems to be having issues, as it is screwing up even links in a very old stickie! Right now I cannot even log into my photobucket account to look at what had been downloaded to my folders.

OK, what is this photo for? It's a WB card -- is this something you have in your PP program and use for WB?

cdifoto wrote in post #10659311
Pretty much. My cameras are always set to 5500K. Most of the time it's right. When it's not, it's usually tungsten so I'll change it to that in post.

If I want to set a custom white balance (shooting JPEG for instance, which is rare anymore), I'll do it with an old school grey card. They come in 8x10" size and can be cut up into pocketable sizes without crying over the cost.

Well, this is what I was pretty much thinking -- is the WhiBal (and similar cards) really just for those who shoot jpeg? Of course, if I did, the card would make perfect sense, but with RAW and DPP, I wonder if I just don't need it. I guess I should have thought more about that when I ordered.

Does it look correct on your monitor? That's the target Wilt uses to set WB in post-processing. If you see it as a neutral black/grey/white on your monitor then your WhiBal card (or the conditions under which you used it) is funky. But if it has a colour cast your monitor needs to be recalibrated. I'm seeing black/grey/white on my monitor here.