Comments on: Fix your colour profile

By: Eddy

Eddy — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:06:43 +0000

I bought the Spyder2Express bundle and “upgraded” it with ColorEyes Pro calibration software. The before/after difference on my monitors is like night and day.

Photobox.co.uk has links to the ICC profiles used on their printers. I have yet to try a new set of prints after proofing the pictures on my calibrated screen, but I have high hopes.

— Eddy

By: clarel

clarel — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:25:57 +0000

Once you have calibrated your workflow at home and if you’ve never done it before, I suggest you contact an imaging centre such as Metro – they will provide you with ICC profiles in which they deal and you can then be sure to have an end-to-end colourspace proofing.

The printed results compared to the previous “uncalibrated” workflow will be stunning, and the whole thing is quite fun.

By: Patrick Ng

Patrick Ng — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:14:58 +0000

You’re right. The right lab can make a huge difference.

If you have more than one monitor to calibrate, then the Spyder2 can be better amortized :-)

I’ve seen quite a few people with expensive DSLR and expensive lenses. However, when I asked them if they have calibrated their monitors to produce acurate colours, I did not get a single positive answer.

Personally, if I was going to invest $4000 in camera equipment, and my time to taking and editing photos, I would make sure I get a good and properly calibrated monitor first. You seem to think the same way. Maybe we have some kind of Obsessive-Compulsive disoder :-)

By: Eddy

Eddy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:36:34 +0000

Yes, you can have guide prints, but you then lose the benefit of volume orders. If you are making an important print (for framing, for example), then maybe it’s worth doing that.

The self-service kiosks produce very poor print-outs. They use generic profiles to suit a large range of cameras. The mini-labs are much better; in fact, self-service kiosks in some stores are just there for you to set up your order while the prints themselves are done on a mini-lab behind the counter.

Yes, apparently no colour correction is applied. This is why it is important to soft proof your pictures before you send them to the printer. This can be done by converting to the profile of the target printer and adjusting the resulting picture.

I have my eyes on a Spyder2 Express myself :-)

— Eddy

By: Patrick Ng

Patrick Ng — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:01:05 +0000

I was thinking, can you send just one or two photos you think would be problematic and see how they turn out before sending more?

I usually go to a place where they have the self-service machines, but the photos get sent to the lab instead of being printed on the spot. I’ve been told that they don’t apply colour correction to digital pictures submitted at these machines (who knows if they do:-).

On the bright side, even if I have printed 100s of pictures, if I am not satisfied, I can always say I don’t like them, and I don’t have to pay :-)

I’ve also noticed that pictures look different on different monitors and therefore makes picture editing more difficult.

It would be cool to have something like that: http://www.colorvision.com/index_us.php