Calibrate IMAC.

JustJazzie · Dec 25, 2013

Did a quick search and didn't find anything, so hopefully this hasn't been asked a billion times..
My prints keep coming out red and a bit dark. It's definitely time to calibrate my monitor but I'm not sure how. Hopefully I can do it somehow for free.

is the possible? I'm using an iMac if that matters.

Designer · Dec 25, 2013

Are you sure it is not the printer? If you print something else, how does it look?

table1349 · Dec 25, 2013

Calibration means hardware calibration which isn't going to be free. You might take a look at the Spyder line or the Colormunki line.

KmH · Dec 25, 2013

Monitor Calibration for Photography

Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

JustJazzie · Dec 26, 2013

Designer said:
Are you sure it is not the printer? If you print something else, how does it look?

I've printed at home and also at a kodak kiosk. Both are red!

I will look into the programs mentioned. Thanks.

JustJazzie · Dec 26, 2013

KmH said:
Monitor Calibration for Photography Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

These are interesting! I've got guests in the computer room right now so I'll have to test later. Thank for the links!

Mach0 · Dec 26, 2013

I bought a spyder 3 or 4 ( can't recall) and it works well. Big difference. Before, my screens contrast, greens, and reds were waaayy off.

JustJazzie · Dec 26, 2013

Gah! I feel like an idiot. Looks like my monitor is fine. Apparently aperture has a color proofing profile that I had set wrong! It seems to have fixed it for my printer- I'll have to give it a go for a photo lab and see what happens!

table1349 · Dec 26, 2013

Glad to see that you were able to correct the issue. I would suggest however that if you want to properly edit and get prints that reflect your edits you will still need to hardware calibrate your monitor. The human eye/brain easily compesates for what it sees to what we wish to see. No difference than how bright a basketball game looks to a person and how dark that same venue is to a camera.

JustJazzie · Dec 26, 2013

gryphonslair99 said:
Glad to see that you were able to correct the issue. I would suggest however that if you want to properly edit and get prints that reflect your edits you will still need to hardware calibrate your monitor. The human eye/brain easily compesates for what it sees to what we wish to see. No difference than how bright a basketball game looks to a person and how dark that same venue is to a camera.

Thanks for your input! It's definitely on my list of things to get-unfortunately the list is long and cash is short! Until then I'll settle for better!