Monitor Calibration Help Please

JBurt

I guess I need someone to point me to a tutorial on calibrating my monitor.
I'm using:
XP-Pro - PSP 9 and X.
The monitor is a 17" NEC Multisync FE700.

1. I downloaded the ezprints-1.icc and installed it. When I click on it to proof my image it isn't even close and I can't adjust the red (salmon) out of it.

2. I ordered and received the smugmug test picture in an 8x10. I then downloaded the online version so I won't be seeing it through a browser.

Adjusting my monitor by sight, many of my images look washed out.

An example is my splashscreen image: This should be a rich aqua/turquois with touches of bright red and purple. When I have the monitor corrected for the test print, the image looks washed out and the red and purple details are almost nonexistent. It looks kinda sick.
If that is what people are seeing... :puke
I'm so embarassed... :hide

HALP!!!

Andy

Here are some resources:

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1123524

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1174347

JBurt

Andy wrote:

Here are some resources:

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1123524

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1174347

Thanks Andy. I guess it's going to be a while yet before I load any galleries.

flyingdutchie

Like Andy suggested in the links he provided, for best calibration get a hardware calibration tool, like spyder or Eye One (greta mbeth), etc.

If you're mostly going to post your pics online or print them through Smugmug (EZPrints), make sure your set your camera to shoot in color-mode (color-profile) sRGB (you may be using adobeRGB, causing your pics to look washed out on your browser) and set Photoshop's work-space color profile to sRGB as well.

Use the ezprints.icc for soft-proofing only. (don't convert your pics using this profile)

JBurt

I guess I'm just not grasping the concept of monitor calibration. I suppose it's the same whether I adjust by eye or by a spider: I'm waiting on my Huey but would like to understand the concepts involved.

I want to be able to work with my images in PSP and then to upload to Smugmug for printing by ezprints. And, be assured I will get a reasonable match to what I would see viewing a gallery.

As it stands now my monitor is set to sRGB. Cameras also.
I now see my web images as I want them to show and print. That is the color and saturation I get with my printers. (Not sure what you see)
The SM test image shows dark and on the red side. Both in PSP and on the Smugmug site. So, I guess my monitor is not showing true.
Soft proofing using my 3 Epson printers' profiles (R200 - R300 - 1280) show a virtual match to the 8x10 test print I got from SM.
The ezprint icc profile proofs waaaayyyy to the blue side.

Shouldn't my monitor, theoretically, show the same image in PSP (proofing or not), my SM gallery, and an ezprint print?
Since I'm getting different views, which is the correct one?
How do I get them all to the same place? What am I missing? Which is correct?

I just know it's something really simple... 4 days diddling with this AND a balky DSL line.... missed 3 shows and 2 cruises over the weekend... Grrrrrr

Send me somewhere where I can learn the basics... or maybe slit my throat.

dogwood

profiling

JBurt wrote:

Send me somewhere where I can learn the basics... or maybe slit my throat.

The idea of profiling is that your image will look the same on any profiled monitor or system. If you must profile by eye, try the Adobe gamma adjustments. This is not a very accurate system, but it's better than nothing.

As I pointed out in another similar thread today, there are volumes written on this, hundreds of websites, forums, etc. Some of the easiest info to understand for me was from book author Tim Grey. "Color Confidence" is good and so is one called something like "Getting the best Print". Grey is a big time PSCS dude, though, so some of the PSP stuff may be different, but the basic concepts of profiling are the same.

JBurt

dogwood wrote:

The idea of profiling is that your image will look the same on any profiled monitor or system. If you must profile by eye, try the Adobe gamma adjustments. This is not a very accurate system, but it's better than nothing.

As I pointed out in another similar thread today, there are volumes written on this, hundreds of websites, forums, etc. Some of the easiest info to understand for me was from book author Tim Grey. "Color Confidence" is good and so is one called something like "Getting the best Print". Grey is a big time PSCS dude, though, so some of the PSP stuff may be different, but the basic concepts of profiling are the same.

Thanks for the info pete. I guess I'm just going to have to sit and read til my Huey arrives. I don't think I'm usually this dense but, this seems to have me fluxsumed.
Diving into Google again and hoping my DSL doesn't die.... Again

Edit for an after thought:
When I adjust for the correct colors on the sample print, the windows colors are off. This can't be right. No?