Calibration of Monitor to Printer

[Deano]

Whilst I've had the D70 for about six months I've not made many prints so far. I just got a few test prints from the (agfa) print shop downstairs and the colours are not at all what I see on my screen. I use my work laptop (mostly) for PP and I expect it is the calibration or poor colour reproduction of the LCD which is mostly to blame.

So I have two questions;

1. Is there a way to roughly manually calibrate the screen with the output of my chosen print shop? I was thinking that I could get a file (colour test card) with known colours, print it at the print shop and then adjust my screen to match. If this is possible/practical then where would I get such an image and how would I adjust the screen?

2. I suspect the correct answer is one of those monitor calibration spyder things with the included software but the cost is a bit steep. Would others in Melbourne be interested in going shares in one and then passing it around the group for calibration once every few months?

Cheers
Dean

[Nnnnsic]

May I suggest the Spyder for $200 I talked about in one of the threads... I'll find it eventually (unless someone else wants to do it for me)...

You can manually configure your screen by using such nice tools as Adobe Gamma if you have Photoshop installed... but you'll have to do it monthly as monitor colour temperature pretty much only lasts a month (depending on how old your display device is).

However, if you use the Spyder to configure your colours, you'll either need to acquire a profile setting for the colours they use from the print house you use OR create a profile and match your the profile to the print card they give you.

That said, the whole process is a hell of a lot easier and quicker if you use the spyder and get the profile from the place you go to.

[Onyx]

Dean, first I'd check to make sure the lab didn't automatically "adjust" your images before printing. Insist on no corrections on your next visit.

Just to make sure the problem is at your end, not at the lab's.

If you manage to find & download the profile for the paper/printer you use for output, Photoshop has a nice facility where you could just press Ctrl+Y to toggle between monitor and (simulated) print colours. The accuracy of the simulated print output of course depends largely on the monitor's calibration...

[stubbsy]

Dean, Leigh

This is the post where the spyder is mentioned

[Matty B]

Hi Deano,

I had the same problem with monitor to printer true re-production. I spent heaps on paper types / ink types and fooled about for weeks with Monaco Eazy Colour software and diddled with adobe gamma settings etc.

I was forced to purchase a customised printer profile from AIM in Box Hill. I'm sure glad i did as it fixed my problem straight up. They have an online service there and can create a customised printer profile in two days. If you intend on doing your own printing in house I'd recommend this service. http://www.scannerplace.com.au

Cheers.

[birddog114]

Deano,
I have the Epson 2100 and also a Mit. 22" CRT mon.
I can get the print straight out of it on A3 or super A3 and have no problem with colour or profile. BTW, I have PSCS.

[digitor]

Hi Deano,

...I was forced to purchase a customised printer profile from AIM in Box Hill. I'm sure glad i did as it fixed my problem straight up. ...
Cheers.

Which profile did you get? I see they range from "Basic to "Pro" with prices to match.

Cheers

[lukeo]

I've been thinking about this, and wondered about printing out a couple of the test patterns steve's and dpreview use.

Also I want to create my own. In photoshop, I could imagine and A4 page with 6 or 10 colours on it. The colours would be pure red, green, blue, yellow, white, black, and some at say 1/3 increments of 255. Ideally Red 255 should be exactly the same on every monitor/print should it not? etc.

The purpose of this would be to take your file made in PS, to your printer (albeit fuji, agfa, kodak) and get them to print it without any modifications or cropping (you will have to get the aspect ratio correct when you create the PS file).

Once you have your print from the lab (get two and make sure they are the same) use it to colour profile your monitor adjust a large square of pure red in PS till it looks identical to the square from the lab and so on with each colour until your screen colours match those that your lab prints.

Am I silly or is this not going to work?

How often do you think you need to profile the lab again? Would the lab even change?

I know you would have to redo your monitor every few weeks, but would redoing it off the cards you had printed work for the above reason (ie the lab colour profile changes).

These were my thoughts, quite cheap to implement. Can Birddog or someone else list some pro's and con's of doing this vs a Spyder etc?

p.s A con I can think of is that you are calibrating your monitor to a single lab, which will not be correct for another lab or a decent printer you buy.

Pro You are going to get what you see on your monitor back from the lab arnt you? So long as you goto the same lab.

[lukeo]

Is there something inherrently flawed with my thinking in the last post?

[Matt. K]

Deano
This is actually much simpler than most would have you believe. I have an ideal test print for you.....
http://www.yaffa.com.au/digital/download-current.htm
at the above site. Take the file to your usual printer and then match the monitor as closely as possible to the print. It is that simple. This is not a professional fix...but it is the method I use and it works very very well. Alternatively...shoot an image with your camera with some known . controlled colours such as a can of Coke, Kodak yellow film box, $10 note and any other item that you can think of and open in it Photoshop and only tweak the levels and sharpness. Do not alter the colours. Have this file printed and then adjust your monitor until it matches the print.
Be aware that your problem might be one of incompatible colour space and not the monitor. If your monitor is fairly new then it should be reasonably close to colour perfect.
Hope this helps...if not then send me one of your images so that I can examine it and make a print/

[Matt. K]

yraen69
More important to calibrate your monitor to skin tones. Your thinking is fairly precise...but a better option might be to calibrate your monitor so that it matches the images coming out of your camera...providing correct White Balance was set...and a print made by your usual method. Match the print to the monitor. Monitors can be awfully out of whack before you notice it. Choose a pro lab such as Vision Graphics at redfern to have the print made. Some 1 hour Labs are notoriously bad at what they produce. Another method is to get a paint colour chart from a shop that sells housepaint and photograp the card in sunlight. Check the print against the card and if they are a good match then calibrate the monitor to the print.

[Matty B]

Digitor,
I got the "basic" AIM printer profile under their recommendation. I was told that for my discrepancy between printer and monitor the basic profile was all that was required for me - an ameture photographer. BTW the printer profiles are specific to paper and ink type. I only use Epson Ink and Archive Paper in gloss thus my profile is specifically tuned to get results with this.

Cheers,

Matty B.

[digitor]

Matty B.,

Thanks for the info, (I missed your reply until now).

I've been looking at the CIS systems these guys offer, and have been wondering whether a profile would be necessary as well, but now I'm thinking maybe a Spyder should go on the shopping list instead of buying just one profile, as monitors seem to change over time.

Cheers