Monitor Calibration for Macbook Pro?

[Michiyo-Fir]

I never used to print much, however, recently I did a few prints from my macbook pro's default color profile and the colors are WAY off. Most photos turned out a lot more green/yellow tinted, and people's skin tones which looked good on my laptop looked like cadavers.

So the question is, what do you guys use to calibrate your monitors?

Also what is the best way to ensure that the photos I edit on my macbook pro comes out exactly the same as what I print from a Noritsu D703 printer?

 

[Garbz]

Unless you're talking about the MacBook Pro with the retina display there will always be a lot of uncertainty using your laptop to edit photos. Laptop displays are TN-film panels rather than IPS panels, therefore colour, gamma, and brightness change with the viewing angle of the user. Ideally get a dedicated display.

Now after that let down you probably still could do stuff to make your photos better. The simplest thing is if you don't already do so, edit photos in a very dimly lit room. This ensures that your laptop is the brightest thing you can see and your eyes adjust to it. Beyond that you need to start spending money. Entry level calibration devices like the i1 Display 2 / Pro or Spyder 3 devices will set you back more than $100. These will help but it won't work ideally unless you have a display with consistent colour across viewing angles and your viewing conditions make it favourable to use.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

I don't mind spending some money on a calibrating device. The question is, there are so many out there, which one works well? I've heard a lot of people talk about the Spyder 4 Express or Pro.

Also since I'm not planning to get a retina display macbook pro until another year or 2, I will definitely have to do something to at least get similar colors on my prints and monitor. Right now the prints are coming out completely differently. For now I will have to make do with the viewing angle issue and try to keep editing at the same angle (meaning laptop on desk, don't move the screen and sit at a certain distance.

 

[table1349]

Get a separate IPS display calibrate it and use it for editing.

 

[TCampbell]

You have to calibrate your monitors AND your printers. Basically you need one of these: X-Rite: CMUNDE : ColorMunki Design

It installs a utility on your mac and will have you rest the device on the display (it comes with a strap that has counterweights so it'll just rest on the display on its own.) The utility puts the monitor through several color changes and the calibrater notes the accuracy of the actual color vs. the intended color. It then builds a color profile for THAT specific display and saves it on your Mac along with all the rest of the profiles (in "System Preferences" -> "Displays" -> "Color"). The utility that comes with the display performs the calibration and creates the profile and they also have an option that will remind you to re-check the display calibration from time to time (although LED backlit monitors seldom drift much.)

The same device also calibrates printers. Printer calibration is *slightly* trickier for two reasons:

1) Every different type of paper will require it's own color profile. Change paper brands or types... and you have to make a profile for that specific paper.
2) The same goes for ink. If you ever use a different ink then you'd need a profile for that specific ink.
3) Printers and computers usually have some color profiling built in. Basically you need to make sure that when you profile the printer there is either (a) no profile active at all -- neither in the printer nor on the computer or (b) if there is a profile, it needs to be neutral (not trying to alter the colors.) That's because the color profile the Colormunki will build expresses how much the colors need to be altered from the printers native colors to produce the accurate color. It assumes the colors coming out of the printer are the native colors.

The Colormunki will print a page with color strips on it and you'll slide the device down the strips following the on-screen prompts. The first page is standard (it always prints the first set of colors). It'll then print a 2nd page after you finish scanning all the strips on the first page. This second page will focus on areas that the Colormunki felt needed more correction and testing. At that point it creates a printer profile and installs in the standard Mac locations (you can find these by going into Finder and navigating to Applications -> Utilities -> ColorSync Utility and then select Devices -> Printers.

You'll notice when you pick a printer there are LOTS of profiles for each printer. But if you highlight each one while looking at the panel on the right, you'll the paper type is different for every profile.

When you print on a Mac, there's an optional "Color Matching" category and you can pick the color profile you'd like to use. Select the appropriate profile based on the paper and ink you happen to be using at the time.

Good luck!

 

[table1349]

While I agree that the color monki is very useful, I use it myself, to get good prints you can get by without profiling you printer if you use paper that has ICC profiles available for your printer. The results will usually be quite close to creating your own profiles. If you do not have a printer that ICC profiles are available for then the best results will come from creating your so profiles.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Thanks for the replies.

However, it's a little more complicated and I was wondering if someone could explain it to me a bit more.

The printer is not mine, the printer belongs to a photofinishing store that I work for. I can definitely tell them to not color correct any of my photos but my edited photos (in jpeg or tiff) will have to be sent to another computer and printed through there. If I calibrate my computer only, how would I ensure the color is close coming out of the other computer? Do I have to calibrate the other computer as well?

 

[table1349]

If they are a decent print shop they will be calibrating their monitor(s) regularly. The will or should have ICC profiles for the paper they use.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I went out and bought the ColorMunki Photo kit today and calibrated both my laptop monitor as well as profiled our printer so now I have ICC profiles to use in Photoshop. Only had time to run off a few prints but it's looking really really good provided I keep my laptop's screen within a certain viewing angle.

 

[Ice9Mark]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I went out and bought the ColorMunki Photo kit today and calibrated both my laptop monitor as well as profiled our printer so now I have ICC profiles to use in Photoshop. Only had time to run off a few prints but it's looking really really good provided I keep my laptop's screen within a certain viewing angle.

Hi I know this is an old thread but il try anyway . I had the same problem as you had a MacBook pro that needed calibrated so bought a colormunki calibration devise . The problem is after calibration my MacBook screen seems much to green yellow . The greens especially just look off . Did you have the same problem is it just me will I get used to it , it's been a few weeks now and I can't seem to get used to the way it looks it just seems off .