Quote:
Originally Posted by pholy
Stitchawl, what sort of color calibration gear to you use? (I'm assuming you must, given what we see here.) What should I use (given that I just want my printer to match my monitor better)? My prints are much darker than the pictures on my monitor. Remember I have much time, not so much money... and I'm amateur, at best.
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I use
Datacolor's Spyder4 Elite Pro but there are less expensive models and companies that do, in my not-so-humble opinion, just as good a job. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that often, exact color reproduction isn't necessary. No one knows what exact color the orchid actually was that is in your photo, or the exact color of the landscape you shot. As long as it looks the way YOU want it to look in the finished image, that's all that counts. On the other hand, if you take a picture of Aunt Sally, and she comes out with the skin tone of a plum when she really should look more like a peach... that's a problem. Darker skinned people often get printed looking really purple, while blond Scandinavians often show up as Albino in many people's home prints... Good calibration software is necessary.
Unfortunately, most people don't realize that their monitors need to be re-calibrated every few months for home use, and every week for studio work. Most folks have NEVER calibrated their monitors but wondered why colors just didn't seem exactly right but live with it so long as to never really notice at all any more! Fortunately, today's monitors are MUCH more accurate than they were even 5 years ago, especially laptops!
Stitchawl