Help:Image on screen vs. Image printed out...brightness and color difference.

[dlifesjrny]

Title says it all.
How can I make it so that what I see is what I get, or rather, I get what I see.
I am using Photoshop CS and a Dell A940 printer with Dell ink.

Thanks!

 

[Big Mike]

There are monitor calibration software programs (& hardware) available. I think this is what most people use when they need to make color accurate prints.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=monitor+calibration&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Hertz van Rental]

You have to calibrate your scanner, if you are using one, and calibrate the printer too.
Kodak do a range of colour targets. You scan one - or photograph one - and set up a colour profile so that the image on your calibrated monitor matches the target. Then you do the same thing for your printer, matching the output to the target.
It can be a little fiddly but once you have colour profiles set up then everything should match. Just remember to check everything once in a while.

 

[dlifesjrny]

Thanks.
I tried one of the online things, and I don't really understand what it did. It says it doesn't change hardware or software settings...hmmm...
Would it be benificial to take a picture I printed out, hold it next to the monitor, and then adjust the monitor until it looks like the picture?
That way when editing in photoshop, it would all come out as I see it?

 

[Dweller]

I was able to find a color profile for my printer (Epson CX4600) so after applying that I would scan a photo, print it and then adjust the screen to match the print. For what its worth the scan and print came out very close to each other.

I dont know if this was the proper way of going about it but it got me to where I wanted to be. Seeing (approximately) what I was going to get from my printer.

I would be interested in hearing from someone who has used the software/hardware calibration kits that are out there.