Thank you all so much! (Posting and disappearing is not something I like to do, but when you get sick and don't get out of bed for almost 3 weeks, and then, while still not better you have to play catch-up, unfortunately, something has to suffer.)
Ok, so here's what has transpired in the past few week since I first posted.
I got my printer. Epson Stylus Pro 11880.
I got my paper. Breathing Color Lyve Canvas. (Getting Epson Premium Luster photo paper in in a bit.)
I got a new computer. Macbook Pro. (Yes, I got a laptop. I don't have space for a desktop, plus, I travel too frequently for it to be feasible to invest in two computers.)
I got a monitor calibrator. i1Display 2.
I borrowed some books from photography friends. (Too many to list right here, but did get the one referenced above, Color Management for Photographers.)
The printer comes with the initial inks, as well as a few feet of Epson Doubleweight Matte paper. I have been just test printing to get a feel for the printer and the computer. I calibrated my monitor, a multitude of ways, but still cannot get the print to come out as seen on my screen. This is my first goal: To make the print match was is on my screen. I'm not concerned yet about the picture being "right", as it will not matter if it is right, if I am not seeing on my screen the end result (the print).
As far as I'm aware, this printer (Epson 11880) does not have a way to calibrate it, that it is somehow set up to not drift from the initial factory/manufacturing calibration, and that the ICCs handle everything else. (Please, if I'm wrong, please point me to more information about how to calibrate this printer.)
I first calibrated it with the i1D2, and the screen looked better. Did a test print of 2 different photos, one mostly white of a friend of mine indoors, one of me, outside with lots of green trees and grass and blue sky. Her pic came out with a red cast to it, mine came out very bright and way oversaturated.
Re-calibrated, looked at pics on computer and compared to first prints, still not the same. Took same pictures, did some color correcting, and printed 2 very small test prints, to see if any change. Still do not match, but the prints are better (though not good). On screen, the sky looked almost purplish (magenta cast??), but the print that sky looked almost a little more cyanish. Thought I remembered somewhere where it was mentioned that even using an external calibrator that one should still calibrate monitor first with built in os software. Tried that, then recalibrated with ColorEyes Pro. New profile came out way different, but not bad (to my very much confused eyes), and was pretty much the best profile yet, but I noticed that it made the previous profile look absolutely horrible! Took same image from computer (had not modified since last printing) and compared again. Still look very different.
This afternoon, I took same pictures and same file, and while sitting in a room that was lit by only sunlight, viewed all images. Looked to match more closely, but still not right.
I called X-Rite, to see if there was something I was not doing, or if there was something else I needed to do. The guy there walked me through re-calibrating, and noticed that my monitor was way too bright, and it was reading 7000 K instead of 6500 K. It was reading about 331, instead of about 120. So I changed the os setting to not adjust for ambient light, and set it to about 112 (the was the closest I could get it to the 120 he recommended). With the screen turned down, it put it back to within a few numbers of 6500 K. What I noticed right away with that was that my screen now had a pink tint to it! When I mentioned that, he responded that that was due to the fact that before, with the brighter screen, it was a cooler-looking screen, but with the brightness turned down, it was a warmer-looking screen, and that it would take a few hours for my eyes to adjust to the warmer colored screen.
The guy from X-Rite mentioned that due to the mediums the image is being viewed on, there would always be *some* minor discrepancies, as one is an emissive display and the other is are reflective print (are those the right terms there? I know how it works, I just can never remember the terms). He advised to view the "softproof" setting for the print medium, to get a much better idea of what it will look like when it prints.
I used the computer all afternoon, and now since coming back from dinner, my screen no longer appears to have a pink tint to it. (I even checked the profiles to make sure the correct one was still selected, lol. It is.
) I switched it back, just to see the change, and the previous one has a distinct light-green tint to it.
The images look good on my screen, but unfortunately, I cannot really check the printed images, as they are looking very much off. I will check those tomorrow during the daylight, so see if they are different. (I think I will be investing in some good "daylight" bulbs.)
I had a discussion with my business partner this afternoon on my progress of getting the screen to show the same as what I'm printing. I stated that I cannot get the monitor to show correctly, and that maybe I need to see about manually adjusting the RGB sliders. He says that I am incorrect in that I have to adjust the monitor, and that I need to adjust the program I am using to print, that Photoshop/Lightroom settings are what need to be adjusted, not the monitor. I said that I disagreed, and the monitor gets adjusted to show the exact colors, and the program is only notified of what color space to be using, but how the color space shows is dependent on the monitor settings (profile) and the accuracy of said-profile, *not* any settings in the print program. What does he mean? Am I completely wrong in thinking I need to get my monitor any more right, and I need to now go change settings in (at least 2 different) print programs?
My question is this. Based on all that I have done, where do I go from here? How do I get my screen to show (as close as computerly possible) the colors that I print? What piece an I missing? How close is it possible to get? 75% match? 90%? 98%? 100%?