Spider Software

[Tim Kimbler]

I used the spider software to calibrate my monitor. I thought the software helped the image seen on the monitor appear closer to how it would actually print. What I found is the image is still lighter than the final print, and the monitor has taken on a yellow hue. For the most part I only print black and white images. Any idea as to the next step to try and get the image on the monitor closer in appearance to the print?

[paulr]

do you have a profile for the printer/ink/paper combination you're using? that's the most important part.
next is having the right illumination for print viewing. there's some debate over the ideal luminance and color temperature of the viewing lights--most people use the press standard, which is created by commercial viewing booths. if your intended illumination for your prints is much different than this (very likely) you'll need to create your own photoshop curve by eye to compensate for the difference.

in general, if you do everthing completely by the book--high quality, calibrated monitor, custom profile for your printer/ink/paper, print viewing light set to the same intent as your monitor calibration, and if the gods are smiling on you--then you can get your monitor within 95% or so of the printed output. With cruder methods, you're more likely to get to 85% to 90%--still pretty good, but it will take you more test prints to get where you're going.

by the way, the yellow hue is because most monitors can only achieve 5000 degrees kelvin at a pretty reduced brightness. ordinarilly, your eyes perceive the brightest thing they see as white, but only within limits. if the brightness falls below a certain point, 5000K looks yellow. some people get better results at a higher color temperature, even though it's technically less accurate. I've been using 6500K with pretty good results. The older and sleepier your monitor (mine is 6 years old) the more likely it is you'll find this helpful.

[Bruce M. Herman]

Tim,

First, keep in mind that you get may free technical support from Colorvision with your purchase. Give them a call during the week.

I have Spyder II Pro, and had the original Spyder with Optical. Here are a couple of things that I did. First, like Paul, I used 6500 deg K rather than 5000 deg K because I felt that the latter was too yellow (I set the color temp to start with using my monitor's controls). I also specified the black luminance to be 0.3 and the white to be 90. rather than using the visual option. I have a mac,. but still used a gamma of 2.2.

Here's a bit of bad news. From everything I've read, and from what I've seen with two previous high end CRT monitors, 3 years may be their maximum usable lifespan. You don't have to throw away the old monitor; it can be sold or donated to folks who aren't critical about the color calibration or used as a second monitor for menus if you have the desk top space.

This is my second Spyder and I've been quite pleased. I used the original on both a PC and a mac, and the Spyder II on my mac.

Bruce

[Henry Ambrose]

The difference between your monitor and print is more likely due to your printer profile (or lack of one) than a flaw in your monitor calibration. If you have not profiled the printer that's the next thing to take care of. But you say you are printing only B&W - are you using standard factory color inks? If you are using other than factory inks then who knows what your printer is putting out unless you've profiled that ink and paper?

Your monitor will look more like you are used to if you choose a higher color temp than 5000 (as the posters above mention). 6500 is more like the default system settings you may have become accustomed to. Picking an intended (and actual) viewing environment and a monitor setting that matches will help you get the print you want. Changing from 5000 to 5500 or 6500 shouldn't make your B&W prints look darker or lighter. You may find that your particular paper color (bright white, ivory, off white, etc.) and inkset are matched better by one of the available settings than others.

After you have calibrated your monitor carefully you might expect that you'd have a near perfect match between screen and print but its not so. The transmissive image of the screen will likely appear lighter when compared to the reflective print. You can allow for this by adjusting the intensity of your viewing environment (in addition to its color temperature). The viewing environment applies to both the monitor and the print and it is vital that you use the same environment every time. And here is where the biggest adjustment comes in - you just have to learn to adjust for this - know that a bright luminous image on the screen won't look just like that in a print. Like a still wet print in the darkroom this can fool you.

As for the age of your monitor and its effect on calibration - if it calibrates it is still usuable. When its too old and dim to calibrate then its time for a new monitor. You can see how much correction is applied when you look at the before and after curves in the Colorvision software.

[Brian Ellis]

I've used the original Spyder to calibrate a CRT monitor and, just a couple weeks ago, to calibrate a flat panel LCD. It worked very well with both. Are you using QTR? If so, have you installed the part that allows you to linearize your working space and soft proof your prints? That should help, the soft proofing part is a generic ICC profile I believe, which isn't as good as a custom profile but does seem to work pretty well. If the information provided here doesn't help I'd suggest that you ask this question in the Yahool digital black and white printing group, there are some extremely knowledgeable and helpful people there and the group is devoted solely to what you're doing (making b&w prints digitally).

[Joseph O'Neil]

The ambient lighting used in the room where your monitor is can affect the colour cast of how your eye sees colour on either a monitor or a print, or both for that matter. If you can experiment, try using differnt light sources - incandescent, flourescent, halogen, natural daylight, etc. For some people, not all, this can have a profound effect on how you see the colour on the screen.

Secondly, we are all talking about monitors, but look closely at your paper. It can have a huge effect on the final colour cast of your image, even B&W prints. Whiel the effect of different grades of photo paper and warm tone VS cold tone, etc, etc, are well documented, when it comes to different papers used on different papers, it can be complete chaos.

Last - check the location of your hardware. personal example I just had - my monitor was under flourescent light, but the colour laser printer was near a window, indirect daylight from the north. Bring the print back in under flourescent light - voilia!

Seems pretty obvious now, but until I figured that part out, drove me nuts.

joe

[paulr]

Also, if you're serious about printing black and white digitally, i'd encourage you to check out Jon Cone's piezography system. you can get a custom profile that will actually let you soft proof the color of your paper stock. people with better monitors and viewing environments than mine report close to 100% accuracy. and the prints are stunning ... quite unlike anything else.