Calibrating your monitor for prints
asamuel
Registered Users Posts: 451 Major grins
I have been one of those for whom the question of calibration has been a theoretical concern for sometime.....until it turned very real two days ago.
I don't know what other people think about it, but I have found advice on the subject to be both confusing and variable, with no real base line answers. This is not the fault of those contributing, this is life.
My experience........
I have been working on a selection of pictures for 2 weeks in m free time. I have done all kinds of Jazz to them in PS. I use a laptop with an LCD monitor it is a dell, I shoot in RAW on a canon 350D. Happy with my results I toodled of to my professional print shop ready to begin my portfolio but expecting some alterations to be made.
AT THE PRINT SHOP.....My images looked terrrible on the screen. Darkness and colour completely out of whack with my adjustments. Because I had layers and selected modes of blending and v. limited filters. the changes that they were making where never wholey attractive to me. It also would have been a big job in house to sit and change my pictures with a technician one at a time (cus the pics are different).
WHAT TO DO ...... I explained I couldn't do this everytime I wanted to print, I need a reliable image on my screen, and minor tweeks in the printers. What was their advice.
a) change the settings of my screen - we tried that but it still wouldnt look anything like their settings that are monitor to printer calibrated. WHY?
Because my Screen is an LCD and the depth of colour in a CRT screen is better (cost relative), also an LCD screen could not be calibrated by an external hardware spyder device.
b) sit for a day at the printers and work on my images - kind offer but impractical
c) FINAL SOLUTION - buy an extra monitor CRT (philips is the better quality at low end prices - according to my printers), go to printers use their calibration device on this screen and go home and rework my pictures.
I followed this advice - was given a monitor by a friend, calibrated it at the printers. the colours look closer and you can call me by my nickname 'two screens'. ONLY PROBLEM - this is not philips but a cheap monitor the clours and brightness etc are still different. they said the screen was unstable, I guess prone to colour drift and imperfections.
STILL BETTER THAN NOTHING
What do others think of my expereience?
I think its a good approach. Think what do you?
I don't know what other people think about it, but I have found advice on the subject to be both confusing and variable, with no real base line answers. This is not the fault of those contributing, this is life.
My experience........
I have been working on a selection of pictures for 2 weeks in m free time. I have done all kinds of Jazz to them in PS. I use a laptop with an LCD monitor it is a dell, I shoot in RAW on a canon 350D. Happy with my results I toodled of to my professional print shop ready to begin my portfolio but expecting some alterations to be made.
AT THE PRINT SHOP.....My images looked terrrible on the screen. Darkness and colour completely out of whack with my adjustments. Because I had layers and selected modes of blending and v. limited filters. the changes that they were making where never wholey attractive to me. It also would have been a big job in house to sit and change my pictures with a technician one at a time (cus the pics are different).
WHAT TO DO ...... I explained I couldn't do this everytime I wanted to print, I need a reliable image on my screen, and minor tweeks in the printers. What was their advice.
a) change the settings of my screen - we tried that but it still wouldnt look anything like their settings that are monitor to printer calibrated. WHY?
Because my Screen is an LCD and the depth of colour in a CRT screen is better (cost relative), also an LCD screen could not be calibrated by an external hardware spyder device.
b) sit for a day at the printers and work on my images - kind offer but impractical
c) FINAL SOLUTION - buy an extra monitor CRT (philips is the better quality at low end prices - according to my printers), go to printers use their calibration device on this screen and go home and rework my pictures.
I followed this advice - was given a monitor by a friend, calibrated it at the printers. the colours look closer and you can call me by my nickname 'two screens'. ONLY PROBLEM - this is not philips but a cheap monitor the clours and brightness etc are still different. they said the screen was unstable, I guess prone to colour drift and imperfections.
STILL BETTER THAN NOTHING
What do others think of my expereience?
I think its a good approach. Think what do you?
0
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As I said I have aquired another monitor. laptop = LCD, second monitor CRT (Calibrated by my pro print shop).
I followed the tutorial. On my CRT the image does not change, but on the LCD it looks washed out as was suggested in the tute.
1) Does this mean that the image in the CRT is a reliable representation (if we factor in the back light of a monitor) whilst the image in the LCD is not?
2) As the image in the CRT is much darker am I right to think that tthe washed out image in the LCD represents imperfections and is not a preview of what I would see if I printed the image. (becuase IF the CRT is a reliable reprersentation then the print should look darker rather than washed out).
Did I ever say thankyou? thankyou! I will now look at the 2nd tute.
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