Matching InkJet Prints to LCD Screen - Help.

[bellavance]

Hi,

 

I am an amateur Digital Photographer. I have a Windows XP PC with a

Samsung 193P Digital LCD Monitor and a Canon i9900 Inkjet Printer. I

would like my prints to match what I see on my screen in Photoshop

CS. What are the easiest/best/cheapest ways to get this?

 

I've seen ColorVision tools on the internet. Are these OK? Would I

need both the Spyder and PrintFix to get "acceptable" results and

not have to print the same image 2-3 times to be satisfied with

colors, shadow/highlight areas, etc?

 

Thanks

 

Pierre

[glenn_jobson]

Hi

 

A lot of people have been through this one, I am sure you will get a lot of answers.

 

My answer would be to buy something such as a Spyder that will give you the ability to accuralty calibrate your display. This will give you your display ICC profile.

 

You could buy something that will then calibrate your printer but for most this is not cost effective, you would be better of choosing a few types of paper from a specific manufacturer and then have some custom ICC profiles made for those, these will be quite a lot cheaper than getting the kit to make your own.

 

Then learn how to use the profiles appropriatley to get the best out of what you have got.

 

Glenn @ colourmad.co.uk

[bellavance]

Glenn,

 

Colorvision recommended me the PrintFIX suite ($449) which might be overkill... I might be OK with just the Spyder ($169) and later get their PrintFIX ($299) if I still want to calibrate my printing, but in the end it would cost as much as getting their PrintFIX suite right away.

 

However, I'm starting to think that it would make more of a difference to calibrate the LCD screen than the Canon printer.

 

Pierre