Spyder 3 Express not matching prints

[buckikiddies]

I am using the Spyder 3 Express on my 27" iMac and am having a heck of a time matching my test prints (from multiple labs). I have lowered my brightness slightly below the 50% mark but I am seeing a bluish looking tint to my colors, my bright pinks and reds lack that pop and overall I feel like the images resemble something printed in RGB and not sRGB (although this is not the case). I am not sure what the issue is, I have tried using both native WB and 2.2 Gamma in the settings. Is there some secret to calibrating with the iMAC I am just not aware of? I don't see any difference between the profile the Spyder gives me and the one I get when I use the built in calibration device. Just not understanding why my colors are off??? I'd like to invest in a better calibration device but am afraid to until I understand why this one isn't working for me. I'd hate to spend a lot more and have the same results. Thanks for any input.

[shewhorn]

It doesn't end with profiling your monitor. You also need a consistent light source (a compact fluorescent or daylight is not going to cut it because the first is missing huge parts of the spectrum and the second is not reliably reproducible, and the color temperature of daylight changes throughout the day) and you also need to soft proof when doing a screen to print comparison using the ICC profile that your lab provides with "simulate paper color" checked. Keep in mind that the correct color temperature setting is not what someone tells you to set it to (this means nothing unless someone has *specific* knowledge of your light source (because if your monitor is profiled to provide a match using a 5000ºK light source and you change it to a 3500ºK light source, it's no longer going to match), and the behavior of the colorimeter that you own (not the behavior of the same model, but the *actual* colorimeter that you own as most are fairly inconsistent from copy to copy in terms of the color temp that they report). So, the correct setting is the one that provide the best visual match. If the color temp appears too cool at 6500ºK then reduce it to 6250ºK or 6000ºK until the screen and the print match.

Cheers, Joe

[shewhorn]

Read the advice Andrew gives in this thread:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=56117.msg0#new

[buckikiddies]

OK, so it sounds like if I move my brightness, Gamma and my White Point around within the iMac Calibration tool to where ever it matches my print, that is where I should keep it regardless of the number? This basically renders the Spyder useless, which is fine I just want to make sure that this approach is the best. I try to calibrate in the daylight, not under florescent or tungsten lights.

[shewhorn]

OK, so it sounds like if I move my brightness, Gamma and my White Point around within the iMac Calibration tool to where ever it matches my print, that is where I should keep it regardless of the number? This basically renders the Spyder useless,

No, it's not useless. The number it reports is useless but without the Spyder, you have no way of achieving consistent reproducible results. Once you arrive at settings that produce a match you can then use those numbers as your target as it will give you reproducibility relative to itself.

which is fine I just want to make sure that this approach is the best. I try to calibrate in the daylight, not under florescent or tungsten lights.

This is a problem. The color temperature of daylight changes throughout the day. If daylight is your illumination source for your print you are chasing a moving target. It is impossible to achieve a screen to print match using daylight unless you are very specific as in... "I am calibrating and my profiling my monitor to match my print on August 3rd, at 2:30 PM on a sunny day without any clouds in the sky". If there's clouds, or if the time or date changes, your color temperature can no longer be guaranteed and your monitor will need to be recalibrated and profiled to match the new conditions. The color temperature of daylight changes throughout the day. You need a reproducible illuminant like a 4700º 50 watt SoLux bulb with a 36º spread, or a GTI print viewing booth. You need something that is going to produce the same color temperature and spectra every time you turn it on. You can't get that kind of reproducibility with daylight.

Cheers, Joe

[buckikiddies]

OK, so forgive me for being incredibly slow when it comes to calibration but this is just not my thing and I find it incredibly frustrating. Let's just backup for a moment and pretend I don't even own the Spyder 3 Express. I have a brand new iMac, where do I start? Are there any settings within my computer that I should first look at? I just noticed today that I have something called ColorSync Utility, which is different from the Calibration under the settings...do I mess with this at all? Anyone willing to take on a challenge and get help get me where I need to be? I know it's a lot to ask...I feel like I am fumbling in the dark trying to put it all together.

[PhilipCummins]

Let's just backup for a moment and pretend I don't even own the Spyder 3 Express. I have a brand new iMac, where do I start? Are there any settings within my computer that I should first look at?

Yes. Have a look at your System Preferences:Display and then look in the Color tab. This is where you can set an ICC profile for the iMac's display. The profile will adjust how input colours are transformed to display on the iMac's display. You should try switching different ICC profiles to see the effect it has on your colours and photos. Apple provides a basic "by eye" calibration system that you can try and use to roughly set what you think the display should be showing.

Since a person's "by eye" calibration is pretty variable, you want to use your Spyder 3 Express to create a profile for your iMac display that can correctly (and in general, consistently) profile what colours comes out of the display with a known input. Once this is known an ICC profile can be created for your iMac to try and best match other calibrated monitors as well as understand what colours it can display or not display. The idea of the Spyder 3 Express is to create an ICC profile for your iMac display to enable it to match as closely as it can other monitors. Ideally as an experiment you should try calibrating a second display on your iMac or another computer to get it to match a picture from 1 display to another.

This is probably the best place to start, I think...

[shewhorn]

Since a person's "by eye" calibration is pretty variable, you want to use your Spyder 3 Express to create a profile for your iMac display that can correctly (and in general, consistently) profile what colours comes out of the display with a known input. Once this is known an ICC profile can be created for your iMac to try and best match other calibrated monitors as well as understand what colours it can display or not display. The idea of the Spyder 3 Express is to create an ICC profile for your iMac display to enable it to match as closely as it can other monitors. Ideally as an experiment you should try calibrating a second display on your iMac or another computer to get it to match a picture from 1 display to another.

The goal is not to match other monitors, but to achieve consistency and reproducibility over time so that what appears on your screen is a pretty good emulation of what you will get when you make a print. It's a very common myth that profiling two screens will result in them matching. The fact of the matter is that unless we're talking about the exact same make and model of screen, this is very unlikely to happen. Even when you have two different manufacturers that use the exact same OEM part for the panel, you can get a very significant mismatch based upon the type of backlight used for that display as the backlight will determine the spectra that is in pure white. You can manipulate the white point of a screen from it's native white point by turning on red, green, and blue pixels to various degrees to block some of the light coming from the backlight but regardless of what you do, it can be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to recreate the specific spectra of a different backlight. This is why you can plop two monitors right beside one another, enter a target white point, profile both of them and then see two different versions of white.

Getting a good screen to print match requires reproducibility of the luminance and color response of your screen, the amount of ambient light in your room (you want it low... 32 lux or lower is recommended), as well as the light source used to illuminate your print. This means light blocking shades (the cheap vinyl shades work great), and a full spectrum light source (I recommend SoLux bulbs). In addition when doing a screen to print comparison, you will need the ICC profile from your lab for soft proofing your print in Photoshop. This profile allows Photoshop to emulate the dynamic range and color response of the final printed result.

Cheers, Joe

Cheers, Joe