Affordable Calibration?

[Henry Ambrose]

I use Color Eyes --- http://www.integrated-color.com/
I'm really pleased with it.

[Lenny Eiger]

I am looking for an affordable monitor calibration device (under 1k). I am currently printing on a 9880, and what the screen sees and what prints are two very different things. I am mac based, if that matters.

Thanks for your suggestions.

~Joel Belmont

Lots of reasonable suggestions. I use an EyeOne and can say that Gretag's products are quite terrific. The only thing I would add is that what the screen sees and the printer prints will always be different. I have a fortune in profiling equipment and software and it is never perfect. Transmissive and reflective are two different mediums, and will never meet. Just a quick note to say don't expect perfection...

Lenny

[wmdyer1]

I'm using a Spyder 2 Suite and find it works very well, producing very accurate prints on my Epson 4800. As Lenny said, the prints aren't 100% perfect, but they are very close, using manufacturer's profiles for the various papers that I print on.
I would imagine the Spyder 3 is as good or better.
Bill

[Ted Harris]

The Spyder 3 is a good solution but you do need to exercise a good deal of care when using it to insure accurate profiles. Exercise that care and it will serve you well.

Ease of use doesn't really come until you move up to the Isis unit and that is getting really expensive.

[Harley Goldman]

Monitor calibration is certainly essential. In addition, I find custom paper profiles very useful. For me, they produce far more accurate prints. You can find profiles quite cheap and they are good. A forum member, Michael Gordon (http://www.michael-gordon.com/ did my paper profile and charged a very reasonable (read low) amount. It works perfectly, far better than the manufacturer profile.

[Joanna Carter]

Try this : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...h_Eye_One.html

It will do monitor, scanner and printer (using the scanner). Until I splashed out on the SpyderPrint, I got perfectly acceptable profiles from this.

[Ted Harris]

Joanna,

It's not clear to me that package you noted contains a spectrophotometer (Reflective densitometer). If it doesn't how do you profile papers?

[Joanna Carter]

It's not clear to me that package you noted contains a spectrophotometer (Reflective densitometer). If it doesn't how do you profile papers?

Ted, the package contains the "puck" for monitor calibration but, as I mentioned, uses your scanner to create profiles for papers. Although the profiles produced might not strictly be as accurate as those produced by something like the SpyderPrint, they are eminently adequate for someone wanting to create profiles on a restricted budget.

[Ted Harris]

Got it, not sure I'd trust it but, as you said, definitely better than no profile at all. However, I'd question whether it is better than a canned profile.

[Joanna Carter]

Got it, not sure I'd trust it but, as you said, definitely better than no profile at all. However, I'd question whether it is better than a canned profile.

Well, from my experience, there was very little difference between the profile I produced and the canned profile for Epson Semi Gloss. And that gave me the confidence to use EZColor for papers to which I did not have "canned" profiles; Hahnemulle Photo Rag for example, with very acceptable results that gained awards in competitions.