Hi there! I hope everyone is having a good Easter.
I am considering purchasing color calibration software because I'm tired of wondering if my photos will print correctly. I print through White House Custom Colour and they suggest either i1Display Pro or ColorMunki Display by Xrite. I don't know much about this software and as a result, the only major differences I've been able to find between the two are the number of devices each works on. According to Xrite's website - the i1Display Pro works on more than one monitor.
Are there other differences that should sway my decision one way or another? I don't need advanced capabilities as I am just beginning to print my photos, so I am leaning toward the cheaper option. If it matters, I use an HP TouchSmart tm2 laptop for my photo editing.
Thanks for any direction you can provide!
Posted by Sarah Marino on April 20, 2014 at 6:58 PM
Hi Crystal - I know there are a lot of people on this forum who know MUCH more about color calibration than I do and can probably weigh in with helpful advice but I will briefly share my own limited experience. When I was processing photos on a laptop and purchased the EyeOne calibration system, the laptop monitor was not capable of displaying a broad range of colors and the color calibration made nearly no difference in making my printing process more successful. I then bought a slightly better but still crappy display and still had issues. Two monitors later and I finally just spent the money on a NEC wide gamut display. I should have skipped the other crappy monitors and just went straight to the wide gamut monitor as it would have saved me from a lot of hassle, cost, and frustration along the way. My main point is that color calibration for a laptop monitor alone may not do a lot to help you with your issues because of the inherent limitations of the display. Xrite has pretty amazing customer service, so if you do have an issue with one of their products, you will probably get prompt, thorough assistance.
Posted by Bob Falcone on April 20, 2014 at 7:59 PM
I'm using a Spyder 4 Pro, and am very happy with it.
Sarah's comments are dead on: A good display is the starting point to getting good results. I've had cheaper monitors that just could not be calibrated due to various limitations.
Posted by John Mumaw on April 20, 2014 at 10:38 PM
Is the problem you're having in getting too dark of prints from the lab compared to your screen?
If so, you may need to turn the brightness of your screen down to match the prints you're receiving.
Most commercial monitors come out of the box set too bright. Meant to appeal to the masses rather than photographers.
Not negating the fact that you do need to calibrate your monitor. but oftentimes less expensive calibration equipment will do nothing about monitor brightness. Which monitor are you using?
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on April 21, 2014 at 4:45 PM
Both the DisplayPro and ColorMunki are good solutions. Since you are leaning toward a cheaper solution, the ColorMunki will save you $80 without much loss in functionality.
ColorMunki Display shares identical hardware and has the same measurement accuracy as the i1Display. However, the measurement speed is five times slower and it has a feature-limited software package. Also for monitoring ambient light levels, it only measures luminance rather than color temperature as well.
As John mentioned, if you are using a decent monitor, the primary issue in getting good prints is usually the high luminance level of your screen, not color accuracy. So, for the cheapest solution, just iterate on adjusting your monitor brightness. Obviously this is not as easy as letting hardware do it for you automatically, but you may find that this meets your needs without purchasing any calibration software.
Thank you all for weighing in - I really appreciate it! Yes, John, my prints have been too dark. I'll definitely try adjusting my screen brightness and then go from there. Sarah - thank you for pointing out the limitations of my current computer set-up. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to wait on purchasing a better monitor but I'll keep your suggestions for the future.
Discussion
5 repliesI am considering purchasing color calibration software because I'm tired of wondering if my photos will print correctly. I print through White House Custom Colour and they suggest either i1Display Pro or ColorMunki Display by Xrite. I don't know much about this software and as a result, the only major differences I've been able to find between the two are the number of devices each works on. According to Xrite's website - the i1Display Pro works on more than one monitor.
Are there other differences that should sway my decision one way or another? I don't need advanced capabilities as I am just beginning to print my photos, so I am leaning toward the cheaper option. If it matters, I use an HP TouchSmart tm2 laptop for my photo editing.
Thanks for any direction you can provide!
Sarah's comments are dead on: A good display is the starting point to getting good results. I've had cheaper monitors that just could not be calibrated due to various limitations.
If so, you may need to turn the brightness of your screen down to match the prints you're receiving.
Most commercial monitors come out of the box set too bright. Meant to appeal to the masses rather than photographers.
Not negating the fact that you do need to calibrate your monitor. but oftentimes less expensive calibration equipment will do nothing about monitor brightness. Which monitor are you using?
ColorMunki Display shares identical hardware and has the same measurement accuracy as the i1Display. However, the measurement speed is five times slower and it has a feature-limited software package. Also for monitoring ambient light levels, it only measures luminance rather than color temperature as well.
As John mentioned, if you are using a decent monitor, the primary issue in getting good prints is usually the high luminance level of your screen, not color accuracy. So, for the cheapest solution, just iterate on adjusting your monitor brightness. Obviously this is not as easy as letting hardware do it for you automatically, but you may find that this meets your needs without purchasing any calibration software.
Thanks again!