Do you see what I see?

CW
Posted By
Colin_Woodbridge
Jan 28, 2004
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377
Replies
10
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Closed
Ok, I’ve calibrated my monitor….well at least I used the Adobe Gamma Corrector and got a display image I’m at least happy with on my LCD screen.

But I’m not sure how I do the same with my Canon i850 printer and how I match the two.

If I’ve got this right then the intent of all this calibration is to have a screen which is balanced to give a ‘realistic’ image and have the printer output something that looks like whats on the screen.

Now given that when I visit my friends houses all their tvs have different colour settings because that’s what they like. How do I know when my screen is right?

Colin

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JF
Jodi_Frye
Jan 28, 2004
The best way ( what I do…basic but it works)is to go take a picture of something ( assuming you have a digital camera )…your car or something with color and then match it up to your screen. Unfortunetly it’s not a perfect world and not everyone has a properly calibrated monitor and you can get yours near perfect but that doesn’t mean your neighbour will see what you see either. Please yourself….that’s what i do.
SR
Schraven_Robert
Jan 28, 2004
Colin,

You also refer to the fact that you calibrated an LCD screen. What I understand from those who know more about this in the forum is that you need to have a separate programme to calibrate LCD’s.
It seems that analogue(?) monitors are calibrated differently then flat screens.

Please expand your inquiries into that direction as well as it could explain why you see something different on your monitor from what you get as a printed result. There must be some older threads on this in this forum. I remember Raymond Robillard raising it a few months ago.

Robert
CW
Colin_Woodbridge
Jan 28, 2004
Robert….

I’ve been looking through some of the other forums and it’s a complicated subject.

Since, at least at a hobbyist level, what you see is a little subjective…..do or don’t I like it…then my ‘calibration’ is based upon…it looks good to me. I don’t think monitors CRT or LCD reflect (not a pun I know) real life anyway. LCDs to me at least look more vibrant…but then so does slide film or the movies.

My real aim is to get the whole chain….camera > PC > Printer consistent. Or at least what I see on the screen is printed out the same.

So I’m happy with my monitor but can’t figure out yet how to get the printer set to reproduce the image so it looks the same.

Colin
BH
Beth_Haney
Jan 28, 2004
Colin, I’m giving links to a couple of excellent sites with more information on the whole color management thing. If you haven’t checked out either of these two yet, you’ll want to.

Here’s a link to color management in PS 7.0 on Ian Lyons’ site. PSE 2 is based on the PS 7 engine, so everything he says applies to Elements as well as full PS.

<http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7-colour/ps7_1.htm>

Norman Koren also has some extremely good information on the subject, but I think it’s a little more advanced than Ian’s. Maybe just my opinion, however.

<http://www.normankoren.com/color_management.html#Basics>
JH
Jim_Hess
Jan 28, 2004
Colin,

You don’t do anything with the printer. If you have the correct driver installed for your printer, it is assumed that it is going to print colors correctly. So the challenge is to adjust the monitor so that the display matches something you have printed. This can be especially challenging if you’re monitor is really out of adjustment. My wife had that problem with a graphic that she created for the website. On everyone else’s computer the background was a completely different color. After we got her monitor calibrated she was able to resolve the problem. If your printer output is dramatically different from what you see on your monitor, perhaps you should make sure you have the current printer driver first, and then spend some time calibrating your monitor.
CW
Colin_Woodbridge
Jan 28, 2004
Thanks Beth….these look interesting.

I’ve only been into the whole imaging scene for a couple of months and seem to be digging deeper and deeper into the technicalities without actually getting much real work done.

Ironically one of the first images I want to enhance is B&W.

Thanks for your help

Colin
SR
Schraven_Robert
Jan 28, 2004
Colin,

Sorry to be a bit persistent here, but what if the printer is right and the monitor is not exactly there?

In my case I know there is a difference between what I see on my monitor and what I get as a printed item. I see more detail on the printed result with slightly more vibrant colours than on the monitor. That however is as good as it gets with the equipment I have. 🙂

Robert
JH
Jim_Hess
Jan 28, 2004
Colin,

After I did the initial calibration of my monitor, I printed a photograph that I was satisfied with the the results I was getting from my printer. Then I ran Adobe Gamma again with the picture open in PSE and adjusted everything until it matched the printed photograph to my satisfaction. I have been able to use that monitor profile now were several months, and have been satisfied with my results.
CW
Colin_Woodbridge
Jan 28, 2004
Jim….

That sounds a good idea, I’ll give it a try.

Now if I can only get the rest of the world to look like what my printer thinks it should be…:-)
NS
Nancy_S
Jan 28, 2004
Colin,

There will be choices in the printer driver also (like paper type etc) after you go to File>Print there ought to be selectables there. I have Epson printers so cannot be specific with your brand.

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