For Beginners - An Introduction to the Problem:
If you are reading this, it probably means that you have been trying to print photographs from your computer and are unhappy with the results. You've tried adjusting your monitor, and adjusting your printer, and still, you're getting poor results. Worse, it seems like you have entered an endless loop - a digital Twilight Zone - where one adjustment creates an unwelcome result somewhere else.
All you really want to do is get your prints to match what you see on your screen.
Seems like it should be easy. Why isn't it?
There is a lot of color science that explains why. We're not going to go there in this discussion. At the risk of oversimplifying, it really boils down to two devices - your monitor and your printer.
Monitors are like snowflakes....
Monitors are like snowflakes. No two are the same and each one comes out of the box different. And they change over time. This is true for both CRT and LCD monitors. Have you ever walked into an electronics store, seen rows and rows of televisions next to each other, and noticed that there was a perceptible - sometimes major - difference in color among them? That's what we mean by "snowflakes."
In today's digital darkroom, we rely on the monitor to accurately display our digital images and photographs. It is the "soft proof" by which we judge our prints. If you cannot trust what you see on your monitor, how can you be sure of what you print? Therefore, virtually all color guru's strongly recommend to calibrate your monitor on a periodic basis. This is the first most important step in gaining control of your digital darkroom. This gives you a stake in the ground.
How do I calibrate my monitor?
There are three basic methods. These are:
- Do nothing, adjust, and pray. You've probably been there and done that.
- Use a visual monitor calibration technique. There are quite a few of these available on the market. Many are free or nearly free. This approach is better than nothing, but remains very subjective. These programs present a series of screens with colored boxes and gray scales and ask you to make the closest match. However, human response to color is not an exact science. The way we see color changes based on many different variables including the amount of caffeine or alcohol in our system, the background lighting, and even our mood. It is very difficult for one person to get consistent results from calibration to calibration. It is even more difficult for several individuals to get agreement. Visual techniques are inherently subjective and therefore inconsistent and inaccurate.
- Use a sensor-based monitor calibration technique. This is what ColorVision offers with the Spyder™ and SpyderPRO™ products. The Spyder is a sophisticated optical sensor that measures colors displayed on the screen. It compares the measured colors with an industry standard known as CIELAB and makes adjustments to the graphics video card. These adjustments "calibrate" your monitor for accurate color display. The Spyder software (either PhotoCAL or OptiCAL) also creates an ICC monitor profile that contains the data from this calibration. This profile is automatically stored in your system where it is used as a default in "ICC aware" applications like Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and Adobe Album. The Spyder basically replaces your eyes with an analytical technique that is not subject to caffeine, alcohol, or mood swings. While the Spyder is not free, it is very affordable. The Spyder eliminates the guesswork from the process and produces accurate and consistent results from calibration to calibration.
For Beginners - An Introduction to the Problem and our Solutions
OK, now my monitor is calibrated... will my prints match what I see on my screen?
Printers have their own color space that varies by make, model, and even individual unit. Further, color will vary depending on the ink and paper that you use for your prints. The major printer companies have made major strides in creating products which will produce accurate, "calibrated" color prints when used with their own ink and paper. For each of the papers that these printer companies sell (glossy, heavy weight matte, etc), there is usually a corresponding "canned profile" provided in the printer's software. These canned ICC printer profiles make adjustments to the digital image coming into the printer from your computer to provide you with an accurate result.
Again at the risk of over-simplification, these two guidelines are very helpful.
- If you are using the printer company's ink and media, your prints should match what you see on screen IF YOU HAVE A CALIBRATED MONITOR. The canned profiles that these companies provide with their products are generally very good.
- If you are using - or want to use - third party papers, canned profiles will not work. Here you have to have both a calibrated monitor and a method for creating or using a "custom" ICC printer profile for each of the papers that you want to use.
"Canned Profiles"
These are the ICC profiles that printer suppliers deliver with their product and are specifically made to work with the printer manufacturer's media. The quality of the profile can range from terrible to excellent. As an example, we have found the canned profiles for Epson® papers on the Epson 2200, 7600, and 9600 to be superb. The downside of canned profiles is they do not work well, if at all, with third party papers and inks. Another issue is that canned profiles become less reliable over time, as a printer model becomes older and less consistent, and manufacturer's inks and papers may vary over time. The real advantage of canned profiles is their cost: free (with your purchase of the printer and supplies).
PRO's: Free of charge; easy to use.
CON's: No third party paper or ink sets; still often require adjustments for desired results; static profiles are subject to increased printer, ink, and paper variation over time.
"Custom Profile Services"
There are a number of companies and consultants that create custom built profiles for a given paper for "your" printer and ink set. Typically, you print out a calibration target on the paper you want to profile, send the hard copy output to the provider, and then the provider creates a profile using a spectrophotometer and high end profiling software. The quality of these profiles is usually excellent. The downside of these custom built profiles is that there is a charge per profile. Fees for this type of service are in the range of $99 to $199 per profile. Separate profiles must be purchased for each paper, ink and printer combination.
PRO's: Little user effort required; very easy to use; generally excellent results.
CON's: Charge per profile (can get expensive); no ability to adjust profiles; lag time with shipping and processing.
"Scanner-Based Profiling Software"
There are a number of companies that provide software for creating custom ICC printer profiles using a flat bed scanner as a means to measure a hard copy calibration target. ProfilerPLUS is the ColorVision product that falls into this category. Results of these products are fair to very good depending on the quality of the flat bed scanner used; but numerous tweaks are often required to dial in the profile. Scanner-based products range in price from $79 to $299.
PRO's: Affordable; third party papers and inks supported; relatively easy to use; gives users full control of profile creation and tweaking; can accommodate a variety of inks and papers.
CON's: Requires a flatbed scanner and scanning software; performance dependent on quality of scanner; can be time, ink, and paper intensive until final profile is created.
"Spectro-Based Profiling Software"
The most accurate and consistent method of printer characterization continues to be spectro-based profiling. These products use high-end color measurement devices to create ICC profiles that need very little or no adjustment. With spectro-based profiling, professionals create RGB, CMYK, and/or specialty profiles (such as Hexachrome) for color printers, PostScript printers and RIPs. ProfilerPRO (a ColorVision product) allows the user to select from several different Spectros including the ColorMouse which is supplied with the Master Suite Spectro. Results are excellent, high-quality profiles suitable for professional uses including print labs or service bureaus. Spectro-based products are typically in the price range from $1000 to $10,000. Please note that ColorVision's Spectro-based products are the most affordable on the market.
PROS's: Excellent color and B&W profiling (depending on your printer's capabilities); little to no adjustment required, high-quality professional results; flexibility to accommodate a variety of inks, papers and print parameters.
CON's: Expensive; can be tedious reading color patches, complex interface, requires experience.
"PrintFIX Profiling System"
Typically, more accurate than all other choices except spectro-based profiling (your own, or outsourced from a service). This product uses a specially developed, affordable, USB powered color patch reader to create ICC profiles that need far less adjustment than flatbed scanner based profiles. PrintFIX creates RGB profiles for specific color printers, with more devices to be supported over time. Results are very good; suitable for printing your own color photographic images on any of the supported color printers. PrintFIX costs only a bit more than scanner-based systems, and offers results reaching closer to Spectro-based solutions for the supported printers.
PROS's: Very good photographic color prints on the supported printers; minimal adjustment required; can accommodate a range of papers; patch reader has small footprint and is very portable
CON's: Not intended for B&W work, prepress proofing, PostScript printers or RIPs.
