Help calibrating monitor and printer please

D

dogyakker

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Edit My Images
Yes
Ok,

So I went though and used a monitor calibrating chart located here - http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/index.html

Works brilliant - made an instant improvement to viewing on the monitor - so much nicer and i could see clearer what some people had commented on about my pics.

All was happy until I printed out a photo - had to check twice to make sure it was the same photo. So much darker than on sreen and the colours appeared to have more yellow in.

Could someone post a link or explain how to get the whole set up all talking the same language please? Its really off putting.

Thanks,
Chris
 
The chart on that page will only get you so far but it's a good start.

To get prints to match you need to use software that is properly colour managed such as Photoshop, Lightroom or QImage.

Basically the software translates the colours in the image into the correct colours for screen, printer, etc. In order to do this you need to tell it about your screen and printer by assigning profiles. It's very much like translating text between different languages so the picture might be in English but your monitor is in German.

The first problem you need to overcome is because you've in effect "hacked" the calibration of your monitor no profile has been created and any that is assigned to it might describe a very different setup that what you actually have. This is why a hardware calibration device such as the Huey or Spyder is useful, they measure the display and create a profile. As I don't know what software you're using it's a little hard to give exact instructions but in general terms you need to tell the software to stop proofing for the monitor - in Photoshop you'd do this by turning on proofing but setting it to Windows or Monitor RGB, in effect you're double correcting and it cancels itself out.

To get the prints correct you need firstly find the correct profiles for your printer and in some cases the paper as well (but don't worry too much about paper specific profiles for now).

Then when you print you need to tell the software which profile to use by selecting it from a list and in the print settings panel you need to check that the manufacturer's section is set to ICM mode and that colour correction is switched off. I know that doesn't make much sense but what you're really doing is telling the printer driver not to do anything as the software that's creating the print will do it instead. Then check all the usual things such as paper type, quality, etc.

Sorry that's all a bit vague really but if you report back with what software and printer you're using I or someone else will be able to give more specific instructions.

One final thing - prints generally are a lot darker than you see on screen - white on your monitor is a light source, on paper it's reflecting light in the room which will be a lot dimmer than the monitor - you'd need to light the room very brightly so white paper was as bright as your screen to get an exact match.
 
Did you soft proof before you printed?

Printing a photo is not as simple as pressing the print button.

What pxl8 said is true to a great extent. If you want the print to match your screen even vaguely, you need to do some research on ICC profiles.
 
Thanks guys - that all makes sense - sort of!

Software at the moment is PS CS although I did try printing with the software that came with the printer as it is just so easy and quick to use, however it is very limited.

The printer is a cheap Canon MP 160 although I am thinking that maybe it is time for an upgrade. The annoying thing is that it seams to be just on green that the printer is having trouble with everything else looking ok for a budget printer.

Oh well time for research I think.

Chris
 
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