Seeking recommendation for monitor and printer calibration

[dwnelson]

Hello all,

I am not new to photography but I'm new to color management and ink jet printing. I'm almost through the 2011 Camera to Print and Screen series and I have learned so much! I want a home print setup and I know from the videos that I should calibrate my monitor and my printer. I know there are a lot of options, and I need some customized guidance that fits my needs.

Here is my setup:
Computer: 2011 iMac 27" running Lion, Aperture 4 and Photoshop CS3 (I will upgrade to CS6 and get Lightroom 4 when they come out later this year)
Printer: Epson Stylus Pro 3880 will be ordered this weekend (only $850 after rebate!)

I am looking for a good way to calibrate for good prints. I am a hobbyist and I don't anticipate a heavy volume of printing nor very many paper types, so I don't need any automated stuff, I would rather save some money. I checked the Eye One (i1?) web site and it's pretty complex, and don't really know what product I need. I have also read about some other product with monkey in the name (and it's in C2P&S but I since forgot), but I'm not sure how that differs from the i1 products.

The ideal way for me to do this is to rent a calibration unit, run it once for a couple of different paper types and then forget about it. Is that even possible?

Thanks for your help!

Dan

[dwnelson]

I just learned that borrowlenses.com rents the ColorMunki for $36 for three days. It seems like this is what I need. Any thoughts?

[kevk]

Yep, sounds like a good idea to try begore you buy. I use ColorMunki Photo for screen and printer, and am happy with it.

Kevin

[Ellis Vener]

The ColorMunki Photo set is a very good way to start and you should be quite happy with the results. it is pretty easy to learn but I would budget for a weeklong rental if you are not going to purchase it.

As an alternative  buy a ColorMunki Display ( this uses a colorimeter instead of the spectrophotometer the ColorMunki Photo uses) which is just for displays, and have a service (thedigitaldog.com , Chromix.com , Booksmartstudio.com) make your paper/ink/printer profiles, or buy your paper from http://www.booksmartstudio.com/ and use the profiles they provide. My experience is that Booksmart's profiles are very, very good. better tha nthe aper and printer manufacturer's and as good as I have been able to make for my Canon and Epson printers.

Having your own device for profiling your display makes sense as you really should be profiling your display every few weeks.

If you have not already done so, download the publi beta version of Lightroom 4.

[dwnelson]

Thanks for both of your input. I have enough screens that I would like calibrated (and I understand that they need recalibration), so I've since purchased the ColorMunki Display, and I'll be using one of the services to generate printer/ink/paper profiles. I have also downloaded the LR4 beta. Thanks everyone - I'm entering an exciting new phase of my hobby!

[Pat O'Connor]

Just checked the booksmart website and very much like the idea of their icc subscription model, but I would love to know what paper/printer combos they have in their vault before I commit. Is there anywhere on the site that has this list?

Regards

Pat

[bill t.]

I think there's something to be said for having a single device that can calibrate both screen and print.

I recently starting using an i1 Photo puck, which calibrates both.  The correspondence between print and screen is now so good it's almost spooky.  I'm sure the 'Munki can do as well.

I formerly relied on an aging i1Display2 plus a combination of commercial profiles and my own media profiles created with an inferior instrument.  While screen and print were certainly in the same ballpark, the match was rarely exact.  Having a single color sensor nullifies multiple instrument calibration issues.

[Ellis Vener]

Just checked the booksmart website and very much like the idea of their icc subscription model, but I would love to know what paper/printer combos they have in their vault before I commit. Is there anywhere on the site that has this list?

Regards

Pat

I don't know about a list on their site but a quick call to them with get the information you want.

[Pat O'Connor]

Thanks for reply Ellis. I sent an e-mail ( a lot cheaper than from a prepaid mobile phone call from Ireland!). Awaiting response.