Calibrating monitor and printer (1 Viewer)

[Austin Thomas]

I have got to the point where I would like to print out some of the photographs that I have taken recently.

I have an Epson R2400 printer and the colours reproduced are nothing like the colours that I see on screen when using Photoshop CS2. The printed versions are duller and lack contrast.

I have read recently about calibrating your screen and there seems to be a number of products that can assist in that area but how do you calibrate screen to printer ?

Has anyone any recommendations for screen calibration products and screen to printer calibration?

Many thanks in advance,

Austin

 

[erniehatt]

I have got to the point where I would like to print out some of the photographs that I have taken recently.

I have an Epson R2400 printer and the colours reproduced are nothing like the colours that I see on screen when using Photoshop CS2. The printed versions are duller and lack contrast.

I have read recently about calibrating your screen and there seems to be a number of products that can assist in that area but how do you calibrate screen to printer ?

Has anyone any recommendations for screen calibration products and screen to printer calibration?

Many thanks in advance,

Austin

CS2 comes with its own calibration tool, look in your control panel for Adobe Gamma. Professional Tolls are available but very expensive. Ernie

 

[paul goode]

I have got to the point where I would like to print out some of the photographs that I have taken recently.

I have an Epson R2400 printer and the colours reproduced are nothing like the colours that I see on screen when using Photoshop CS2. The printed versions are duller and lack contrast.

I have read recently about calibrating your screen and there seems to be a number of products that can assist in that area but how do you calibrate screen to printer ?

Has anyone any recommendations for screen calibration products and screen to printer calibration?

Many thanks in advance,

Austin

Hi Austin,

I'll start this answer with the same comment I used on the same subject a few months ago

'This is a minefield'

I use a Spyder2 for calibrating the monitor, and print using an Epson R800 mainly with Epson premium glossy paper but always with genuine Epson inks. I use Epson's most recent profile for the paper.

By using the above and ensuring my colour space and profiles are correctly set throughout the image processing and printing process I get prints that I'm quite happy with, when viewed correctly! That is, look at the prints under good natural light or a halogen desklight, not in a dark lounge or under tungsten bulbs.

However (I), for most prints nowadays I use photobox and, from many recommendations am going to try peak imaging.

Costwise, its cheaper to use a printing company and Photobox's quality is excellent and I expect peak imaging to be better still.

However (II) your monitor needs calibrating or the prints will still look different. Correct, but different.

As I said I use a Spyder2, but to be honest, I initially calibrated my monitor by using images taken by people who know what they are doing and use calibrated monitors (Nigel Blakes images, in my case!) By checking the image histogram in photoshop to look at the tonal range you can then adjust the monitor so that highlight and shadow detail is shown and the colours 'look right.' Then, by using a correctly printed print the screens brightness can be adjusted. I used this method for a good while and, to be honest, when I got the Spyder I wasn't far out.

From my experience, using Adobe Gamma on a (cheapish) LCD, it was as much use as a chocolate fireguard!

Hope that helps

Paul

 

[RogW]

I also recently moved away from using adobe gamma and went to a hardware solution, greytag eye one , in my case. I could not believe the difference it made, it was like night and day. I would recommend it to anyone.

Regarding printer profiling, i personally don't bother, as was mentioned earlier, i just use canon inks and canon paper along with the most recent profile from canon, and to be quite honest i don't see many discrepancies at all.

Rog

 

[Austin Thomas]

Thanks all,

I have tried Adobe Gamma to calibrate the monitor but it made very little difference.

I'm not sure whether I should post another thread or not but my question is:-

What hardware monitor calibration system do you use and would you recommend it ?

Thanks, Austin

 

[Austin Thomas]

I also recently moved away from using adobe gamma and went to a hardware solution, greytag eye one , in my case. I could not believe the difference it made, it was like night and day. I would recommend it to anyone.


Rog

Hi Rog,

Which particular Eye one solution do you use ? There seems to be a few on thier website.

thanks, Austin

 

[Dave Adshead]

Hi Austin,
I use Colour Vision Spyder2Pro to calibrate my monitor and as soon as I did so, every thing else just dropped into place, I don't profile the printer other than making the necessary selections through Photoshop. What I get out of the printer is almost what I see on the screen, I don't think you can get it exact but I'm very pleased.

It opens your eyes what calibration can do, I had a look at some of my photos on a pals laptop which he does not calibrate. I didn't recognise them as mine at first, they looked absolutely awful.

Its the way to go.

Regards

Dave

 

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Austin,
I use Colour Vision Spyder2Pro to calibrate my monitor and as soon as I did so, every thing else just dropped into place, I don't profile the printer other than making the necessary selections through Photoshop. What I get out of the printer is almost what I see on the screen, I don't think you can get it exact but I'm very pleased.

It opens your eyes what calibration can do, I had a look at some of my photos on a pals laptop which he does not calibrate. I didn't recognise them as mine at first, they looked absolutely awful.

Its the way to go.

Regards

Dave

Thanks Dave,

Out of interest, do you use a CRT or an LCD?

 

[Dave Adshead]

Thanks Dave,

Out of interest, do you use a CRT or an LCD?

I use an Emac which is CRT


Dave

 

[NoSpringChicken]

At work (printing) we use the Monaco Optix system. It's at the cheapest end of the professional systems but it works very well. It is probably a bit pricey for home use though.

We use it to create a monitor profile and then a scanner profile. The scanner is used to create the printer profile. Setting up a workflow is a bit complicated but it works well with all our Adobe applications.

Details of one supplier are here but no doubt there are others:

http://www.bodoni.co.uk/monacoezcolorsoftwarewithmonacooptixxr-p-116.html

 

[bob hastie]

Hi Austin
I use much the same system as Paul Goode, i.e. spyder2 express (£60 from Warehouse express,) Epson R800 printer and epson paper and inks.
Since calibrating the monitor things have just worked right, I used to use Adobe gamma and the difference with the spyder didn't seem that great at first but my prints are now as close as I would ever need them (so close that you have to look hard to see any difference)
btw. I'm using a high end compaq crt, old but still very good.

 

[pe'rigin]

Austin,

Personally, I would calibrate my images (as a copy) for my printer, if the majority of your images were going to ultimately result in colour prints.

Every printing process has a colour profile; each printer make will have its own colour profile. Professional colour management systems create these profiles for every printing media, but will be out of the financial reach of most individuals; Photoshop 3 is all you need.

Unfortunately, it’s trial and error for you to set-up a profile. It’s very time consuming, as you need to first correct the image H&S levels. You then create a stepped greyscale test-strip, which numbers are then applied as a stepped colour test to your image for the colour printer profile. You must stick to the same inks and paper too.

The one rule to adhere to, would be to know the ‘true’ resolution of the printer and try to always print at 100% @ that resolution, with no enlargement factor involved.

Once you have a profile then your images will be perfect.

 

[norman_law]

Hi
Been lurking here for a while and decided to offer some advice. I'm no expert but have spent some time investigating and buying books and hardware/software solutions to help ensure that what I see on the screen is what I see when I print.

An understanding of what's going on when deciding on 'colourspaces', 'printer/monitor profiles' etc. is important. I have put some of this info, and links to other recommended sites, on my web site http://www.photobox.org.uk It's still under construction but take a look and see if any of it helps.

 

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Norman,

Many thanks for your inputs. I have only taken a brief look at your website at the moment but I shall return and read in more detail very soon. It looks very interesting and comprehensiive.

As an update, I opted for the Pantone Eye One display 2 for monitor calibration which has made a big difference. It eliminates one variable at least.The colour space and workflow still needs to be finalised after a lot of trial and error with inks and paper and also conflicting advice which hasn't helped.

Many thanks again for you inputs, much appreciated.

Best regards,

Austin

 

[RogW]

Hi Rog,

Which particular Eye one solution do you use ? There seems to be a few on thier website.

thanks, Austin

I use the Eye One Display 2