Calibrating your monitor

[LadyShutterBug]

How do you do this?


(i am going on the theory that there are no dumb questions)

[Charles Putnam]

Best way is to use a colorimeter. Probably one of the best is Eye One Display from Gretag MacBeth.

[Hogleg 44]

As Charles said, The best way is to use hardware. But you can achieve some bit of calibration using a site like this to help set up your monitor.
http://www.alpenglowimaging.com/monitor-calibration.htm

Photoshop also has a similar built in calibration tool also, if you have that program.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by LadyShutterBug

How do you do this?


(i am going on the theory that there are no dumb questions)

Get a copy of Color Management for Photographers Hands on Techniques for Photoshop Users. This will get you the basics.

You will need a hardware unit to do it right. Their are three which are usable the Spyder2Pro, MonacoOPTIX and the GretagMacbeth One-eye.

I've used the first two and find both about the same.

Remember monitor calibration is just one step in the process of complete color management on your system.

[cmalana]

I am not a big fan of anything but hardware calibration. Eyeballing it just doesn't get close enough (and you'll get frustrated because what you see isn't going to be close to what you're going to get).

We use the Monaco Optix XR product. Easy to use and worth doing every once in a while (especially on CRTs since they drift).

If you are using an LCD (most of which are too bright), you may have difficulties getting it to calibrate properly. From online reviews, the LaCie 319 and 321 as well as the Eizo high end ones can get to the same level as the pro CRTs of the past. I can attest to the LaCie since we use the 319 (though we still do most of our editing on the LaCie CRT - Electron Blue IV).

Hope that helps.

[LadyShutterBug]

I don't print anything local, it all gets printed at my lab in austin.

i am quite happy with the image and color quality i receive from them... but many of the folks here who critique my hsots are telling me they need more pop. so off i got o calibrate so i can either agree with them, or be happy in my disagreement with them :)

[Alyson]

Originally Posted by Charles Putnam

Best way is to use a colorimeter. Probably one of the best is Eye One Display from Gretag MacBeth.

That is what I use for my monitor, it is easy and I just love it.

[cmalana]

Originally Posted by LadyShutterBug

I don't print anything local, it all gets printed at my lab in austin.

i am quite happy with the image and color quality i receive from them... but many of the folks here who critique my hsots are telling me they need more pop. so off i got o calibrate so i can either agree with them, or be happy in my disagreement with them :)

Are you having your lab auto-correct them? If so, they're doing that for your prints to make them look fine, which creates a discrepancy between what your jpgs and the prints. For example, if you did a saturation or color adjustment in photoshop, then you are really just rolling the dice on what they will do to your image prior to printing.

That is definitely one way to approach the problem (and something that was frequently done in the film days), but my issue with it was that I had no idea what my postprocessing was doing to affect the final image since you are not able to determine what the lab did.

I always advice that if anyone will be doing any photoshop/postprocessing work to their images, they need to get their monitors calibrated since they really do not know whether what they are doing improves or degrades the image.

[CobyPhoto]

If you print through a professional lab, you should contact them and find out the puck and software set-up they use. They will be able to guide you through the calibration and send you a test print to make sure that you have the calibration done correctly.

It is as Carlo said, if you make corrections, adjustments and so forth and then have the lab color correct, you are at the mercy of someone else's idea of what your photogrpahy should look like. You want to be able to see it on your monitor, and KNOW it will come back to you from your lab exactly as you planned.

CJ

[LadyShutterBug]

no-- no one is doing any color-correcting for me.

thanks to all for the advice-- and i'll call my lab for the speicifcs :)

[cmalana]

Most labs default to 'auto-correct' unless they are told otherwise. If the prints look fine and they're not color-correcting for you, then ignore the feedback :). Photography is very subjective - what looks good to you won't necessarily look good to everyone (myself include). For example, i like seeing heavier shadows on a lot of my shots - which some people probably don't like. I also don't prefer low contrast shots. We all have different styles too. It would be boring if we all shot the same.

Bottomline, if you think nothing's wrong with your images, there's nothing wrong with your images despite what anyone says. ;)

[Clayton Wallace]

Bottomline, if you think nothing's wrong with your images, there's nothing wrong with your images despite what anyone says. ;)

Unless, of course, they stop buying them... ;)

[rememberme]

Hi All,

I've been using the Monaco calibration tool for the past few months but I have three machines to calibrate and it seems that I can't get them all to look the same. I know that on the laptop it's difficult but on the other two displays, one is pretty true to my lab and the other always looks washed out. Here's what I have:

2 - Apple Cinema Display 20" (one is the older model with the clear plastic edging and the other is the newest model)
1 - Powerbook 17" G4

The two Cinema Displays are in different locations (one at my studio, one at my home). The ambient light is brighter in my home and less controllable so I know this has some effect. The Powerbook travels so the ambient light is never consistent.

My question is can I create a profile on one and copy to the others? If so, do you know where the file is on a Mac to copy? Is anyone else having this problem?

I feel ignorant even having to ask these questions. I was told when I bought the software that is was basically fool-proof so I knew I qualified.

Thanks for any help!

[Clayton Wallace]

Is it just me, or does it seem stupid for all of us to buy hardware to do something a few times a year (or whatever your obsession). I don't buy a backhoe if I need to dig a ditch each season (for the record, I don't dig ditches...not that there is anything wrong with that :)

My lab said that only 20% of the PRO photographers that use their lab have calibrated monitors. I suggested they should rent spiders/etc...

[cmalana]

Originally Posted by Clayton Wallace

Is it just me, or does it seem stupid for all of us to buy hardware to do something a few times a year (or whatever your obsession). I don't buy a backhoe if I need to dig a ditch each season (for the record, I don't dig ditches...not that there is anything wrong with that :)

My lab said that only 20% of the PRO photographers that use their lab have calibrated monitors. I suggested they should rent spiders/etc...

For $300 or so, it seems reasonable considering how much better more predictable our prints have become. Renting these devices did not make sense since it costs about $100 to rent them.