Calibration help needed

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I've been sorting through the rest of my vacation pictures from February to see what's worth keeping, what needs to be trashed, and what might have real potential in post. I decided to print out a few of the ones I want to keep as "I was there, this is what I saw" pictures after basic editing. They look good on my monitor but they look a lot different when I print them. When they came out of the printer they all had a reddish tint to them. I took them to the CVS up the road and tried printing them there. This time they came out greenish.

I know in theory that you can calibrate a monitor and printer. My question is how do you go about this? It seems like a waste of time to continue editing if they're all going to print differently. They have always been slightly different but I don't remember it being this bad.

 

[Vtec44]

Simple solution is to adjust your monitor so it looks like your prints, then you can continue to edit.

 

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Simple solution is to adjust your monitor so it looks like your prints, then you can continue to edit.

How do you adjust a laptop monitor? Hope I don't sound too stupid but I don't see anything for it on mine.

 

[Vtec44]

Do a quick search on "calibrate display color" in the search bar of you Start menu. It's a program in Windows 7 I believe.

 

[Ysarex]

Simple solution is to adjust your monitor so it looks like your prints, then you can continue to edit.

Noooooooooo!

Listen to your mother: Two wrongs do not make a right.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

Simple solution is to adjust your monitor so it looks like your prints, then you can continue to edit.

How do you adjust a laptop monitor? Hope I don't sound too stupid but I don't see anything for it on mine.

Your problem is fairly complex but there are right and wrong ways to proceed here. Your first step is to calibrate your monitor. It's going to cost you some $$$. If you really want to take this seriously and do the whole thing right it's going to cost you some $$$$$$$$$.

First step is to calibrate your display and to do that you'll need one of these: http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNSM...psc=1&qid=1464705553&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1-spons
or something similar. Your display needs to be both calibrated and profiled. This job can not be done using software on your computer. The external hardware component in the link is essential.

Once you have the monitor calibrated you can continue to calibrate other parts of the system/process with those $$$$ always hanging over your head. The above display calibrator is inexpensive but only a partial solution. Here's an idea of a more complete solution and cost: http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNPH...-spons&keywords=x-rite+colormunki+photo&psc=1

Joe

 

[KmH]

Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

If your laptop has a TN (Twisted Nematic) type display calibrating the display is going to yield limited improvement.
TN displays have narrow color accurate viewing angles. So narrow a laptop screen has to be at just the right tilt for your to see acurate colors in the central 70% or of the display.

For image color evaluation and editing an IPS (In-Plane Switching) type display is preferred because IPS delivers broad enough accurate viewing angles that the entire display shows colors accurately.

Many consumer print labs will color correct your photos for you.
In fact many print labs will not guarantee their work if you don't let them color correct your photos before printing them.

The first device Joe linked you to is a colorimeter. A colorimeter cannot profile your printer. The second device, a spectrophotometer, can calibrate/profile your display and your printer.

Preparing digital images for Printing is a lot more involved than many realize and is a couple of books length subject:
The Digital Negative: Raw Image Processing in Lightroom, Camera Raw, and Photoshop (2nd Edition)

Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition)

The Digital Print: Preparing Images in Lightroom and Photoshop for Printing

 

[Vtec44]

Noooooooooo!

Listen to your mother: Two wrongs do not make a right.

Joe

I have the Spyder Pro 4 and still have to adjust it manually to match my IPS monitors with my print labs, even with their provided color profile. . From my personal experience, it's a quick and dirty way tro get by.

 

[Ysarex]

Noooooooooo!

Listen to your mother: Two wrongs do not make a right.

Joe

I have the Spyder Pro 4 and still have to adjust it manually to match my IPS monitors with my print labs, even with their provided color profile. . From my personal experience, it's a quick and dirty way tro get by.

That's not a good idea. Your Spyder colorimeter creates an ICC profile for your display that your processing software uses to display your images. You're setting up a chain of compounding errors. You have the Spyder generated profile installed but you've manually altered the display, but your editing software isn't accounting for those manual changes as it displays your images in reference to the Spyder profile.

Profiles provided by your print lab are for soft-proofing. If you get a big discrepancy in a soft-proof you should contact the lab. They should advise you against manually altering your display.

Joe

 

[Vtec44]

So far, my files all have matched my prints perfectly (4 years, 110+ weddings, countless engagement sessions, 80+ albums (40 pages each), 100+ canvas prints, and countless 4x7's). I don't care what the editing software does. I care how my monitor represents my prints from a particular lab.

 

[KmH]

What light box do you use to compare prints to your computer display?

I'm really intrigued how a textured canvas print can perfectly match your computer display. Neat trick. How do you accomplish that?

 

[Ysarex]

So far, my files all have matched my prints perfectly (4 years, 110+ weddings, countless engagement sessions, 80+ albums (40 pages each), 100+ canvas prints, and countless 4x7's). I don't care what the editing software does. I care how my monitor represents my prints from a particular lab.

Proper color management has a more universal goal, but I'm glad you're happy. The OP needs to be happy too. There are proper ways to handle this problem. Down the road the OP may decide it's not worth the trouble or expense or whatever and then again may be glad to learn how to do it right and get it working. Right now just getting started, it's most appropriate that the OP gets advice to follow proper procedure.

Joe

 

[Vtec44]

What light box do you use to compare prints to your computer display?

I'm really intrigued how a textured canvas print can perfectly match your computer display. Neat trick. How do you accomplish that?

It doesn't matter which light box, as long as both are being compared under the exact same light. Perfect is an exaggeration because there is no such thing. But, variations are impossible to detect with the naked eyes. I've shot for numerous art directors, DOP's, graphic designers, and some of the most picky fellow photographers. So far, what I've employed passed their scrutiny and delivered consistent and expected results. I don't expect any shift in my consistency. If there is, I would be able to detect it.

 

[KmH]

. . . as long as both are being compared under the exact same light. . .

Which can't be done.
Because computer displays are back lit, while prints are fore lit.

So far, my files all have matched my prints perfectly

 

[Vtec44]

Which can't be done.
Because computer displays are back lit, while prints are fore lit.

It doesn't change the fact that I can still getting consistent and predictable print quality, exactly how I want to transfer from digital to prints. So, go ahead and pull down all these online articles, books, click on the disagree button, and famous people who said otherwise. I do it in a way that works for me. So to me, they match perfectly. It's that simple.

Oh don't forget print mediums are generally opaque vs transparent colors coming out from a monitor.

Back to the original question, I wonder if the OP got it to work. LOL