Monitor Calibration - Help!

ben.tite

ben.tite

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Ben
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Hi all,

Does anybody have any advice or recommendations with regards to monitor calibration. I've found that a lot of my prints come out very dark and muddy (Not a home printer) compared to what I see on screen.

I've also noticed that photo's that look great on my screen can look a bit flat and muddy on others :( not good for sharing photos via flickr or when processing wedding images for friends!

I've since turned down my brightness on the monitor from full to about 1/4. This is helping but I'm still not convinced about how effective this would be for getting accurate print brightness and colour.

One more thing I've noticed...

I'm using a 27" iMac and when going through the display setup I've noticed 2 different gamma settings; 1.8 and 2.2... These produce very different screen brightness and contrast. Which is the best to use and most common across all displays?

Any advice on the subject would be greatly received.

Cheers all and enjoy the Olympics :)

Ben
 
I have a question along the same lines.

We've just started using Loxley colour labs and we use a Macbook (laptop) for all our image editing.

We ordered some calibration test prints but having never calibrated a monitor before (for standard prints i've never had to!) we're a little bit in the dark as to how to do it...

Does anyone have any "for dummies" tips that we could use?
 
Ideally you need to use a proper calibration device, such as a Spyder or an i-One Pro.

This will calibrate and profile the monitor screen, laptop or desktop. This way you'll get a much better screen to print match. It's not difficult as the software does most of it for you. You just select the brightness levels, contrast and target white point, and sit back and wait for the software to do the job

Calibration prints help, as they will give you a good idea as to screen brightness and colour, vut they don't compensate for a properly calibrated screen
 
calibration is essential if you want accurate prints but you need the whole work flow process correct as well one weak link and your stuffed. So you need-

1) a half decent screen (doesn't need to be expensive) some screens can't be calibrated due to their cheap quality, I've had this and it's not much fun.
2) Keep the brightness very low (mines at 20%) laptops can be a little bit harder to control properly.
3) Buy a calibrator
4) and if your printing at a lab get the printer profiles for the paper your going to use (should be downloadable from the suppliers website)

If these steps are all in place you shouldn't have any problems. its actually pretty simple but everything needs to be correct otherwise your in for hours of frustration.
 
Cheers for the inputs all. Much appreciated.

Pablo - I'll give your suggestions a try. Any recommendations on a calibration device?

Chappers - thanks for your inputs too...good idea to get some small prints done for testing brightness etc.

I tend to use ProAm for printing and have their printer profile so will try printing with them again once I'm calibrated.

Cheers
Ben
 
The only problem with going for the monitor-only version (ColorMunki Display) is that if you buy a good printer later on you won't be able to calibrate it.

I'm in the same boat printer-wise but (after a lot of humming & haaing) decided to go for the ColorMunki Photo.
 
I have a Spyder 3 Elite with v4 software and a Colormunki Photo, there is little difference on monitor calibration, essentially once in place they both run on auto anyway and the difference is marginal.
 
Thanks again all for the additional recommendations. Anyone used a Huey products?
 
Had the Hue Pro before my Spyder. Some people have green casts but mine was almost the same as the Spyder. I changed because I thought the Spyder was better but felt partly disappointed that the Spyder proved almost the same! However, as I said, some people had problems with Huey so it wouldn't be my first choice.
 
Boich said:
Another vote for the spyder, dead simple on an iMac and saved loads of frustration.
Click to expand...

Another vote for the Spyder here. The newer software is able to measure the brightness of the monitor so you are able to set the brightness correctly before calibrating.
 
Craikeybaby said:
Another vote for the Spyder here. The newer software is able to measure the brightness of the monitor so you are able to set the brightness correctly before calibrating.
Click to expand...

I'm liking the sound of the new software update. Decision made, spider it is :)

Bush bash bosh, thanks all.

:)
 
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