I use an eyeOne Display2... I just wish the dang thing didn't cost so much... Seems to do a pretty good job though.

I try to keep it as simple as possible. I calibrate my LCD monitor every month or so with a Spyder 2 Pro. Any image that I'm going to send to a non-colour managed destination (web browsers, friends, clients, enemies, etc.) I export as a JPEG with the sRGB profile. If I'm sending it off to a destination that does use colour management (print labs, printers, other photographers), I'll export in the appropriate file format and colour space.

In other words, I'm only picky about colour management when it actually matters. Most of the time, it really doesn't matter... That said, I keep my own environment colour managed, as I then have the choice to export managed or not depending on the end recipient.

I'm another eye-one display 2 user. It works for me. I'm not trying to start a religious war here. I know people who use the Spyder line and are pleased with it.

Certainly sRGB is the way to go for web or sending photos to other people.

It would be nice to be able to recommend something less expensive then eye-one or spyder for people who want to calibrate their display.

I am curious about the huey pro. I have tried the basic huey, but the software is lousy in my opinion. Anybody out there tried the huey pro?

Hi!

I'm using basically the same procedure than Peter describe in his comment.

I'm using a Spyder2 colorimeter along with third party "ColorEyes Display Pro" software; from Integrated Color Corporation. Better software that work with a lot of colorimeter; there's a free trial if you want to give it a spin.

http://www.integrated-color.com/cedpro/coloreyesdisplay.html

Regards,

If you want WYSIWYG color, you do need to calibrate your monitor. You also need to manage the whole workflow from end to end with just a wee bit of intelligence.

In other words, if you shoot in sRGB color space, set your software to interpret your images in that color space when opening them. Then work in that space when adjusting them on your calibrated monitor. Finally, use a color managed output device whose profile you've installed for soft proofing in Photoshop or Lightroom or whatever software you're using.

This isn't difficult at all, but it does require reading and understanding all the manufacturer's instructions and following them.

TIP: Almost all photo labs support the sRGB color space. The Internet supports sRGB as the default color space via most browsers. Almost all amateur cameras shoot into this space by default.

BUT Almost all commercial printers loathe sRGB and prefer Adobe RGB (1998) or something with a wider color gamut...

I use Aperture 2.0 and nothing but the software calibration that MAC OS X provides. One reason I went with Aperture is because it allows you to install ICC profiles and export to them for off-line printing at places like my local Costco. With Lightroom you are limited to Adobe RGB, ProPhoto RGB or sRGB. To get full profile support you need Photoshop, and I'm sorry I don't use that either, too expensive. I'm not a pro, just a hobbyist and I don't even own a really good photo printer, and that's much higher on my priority list than a screen calibrator.

I have an old Epson Stylus Photo 870 and used it quite a bit once but switched to mostly using Costco for print work these days. My results are pretty reliable, certainly more so than my hobbyist's pattern of print sessions every few weeks on a clog-prone Epson. There I needed a test print or three and a good head cleaning fairly often to get things right. With Costco and Adorama print profiles in Aperture I get prints that match my screen pretty well.

Someone has been hanging out on he Adobe forums again...

I budgeted for a Spyder2 when I bought Lightroom and decided to get into DSLR in a bigger way.

When I print I just load up a CD and take it down to my local. Mostly, I just try to keep my monitor calibrated, keep photos in ProPhoto as much as possible, and render down to sRGB and hope for the best.

If I ever try my hadn at so-called fine-art prints, I'll probably obsess over the images more, and maybe find a shop that can offer a more precise profile to soft-proof against.

The hardest item I'm having trouble with is my scanner. I'm not sure /at all/ what sort of images it is making from my negatives, but since I never expected to go beyond contact sheets for most of the frames I shoot on film, it's all good.

I use a little Huey - very inexpensive and does the job. Of course anyone that doesn't color calibrate is a total idiot and consider another hobby.

Of course 99.9% of the viewers of flickr are viewing those same images on uncalibrated monitors. Hmmm....something doesn't quite add up????

I am probably one of those grumpy "experts." My usual advice is to calibrate your monitor and only use color managed apps for your own viewing/editing. You can use cheap monitors (and even laptop ones) fine, as long as you calibrate. Expensive monitors, counterintuitively, are most useful if you do not use color managed apps. If you color manage, their benefit is not so great. All pro apps from Adobe and everything Apple puts out (except the iPhone annoyingly) is color managed. Secondly, if your destination is web images, ONLY use sRGB and make sure the profile is embedded. This is necessary as 90% of the web viewing public use uncalibrated monitors with unmanaged browsers. Their display's responses cluster around sRGB as that is what the monitors are designed for. 7% or so (depending mainly on your audience) use color managed browsers on uncalibrated displays and they will benefit hugely from the embedded profile. 2% or so use calibrated monitors but unmanaged browsers. They will see something that is close to what you intended but no cigar. 1% or so use calibrated monitors and managed browsers. They are the only ones that will see exactly what you intended. It is a mess indeed!

Thanks everyone for the great comments, I'm glad to see that I am not alone in finding some humor in this situation.

hi