I need some help...
I had heard in webinars, read in books and online that you really should calibrate your monitor. I have a 27 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 iMac that I wanted to calibrate. As I also read that printers should be calibrated too, I purchased the Xrite Colormunki Photo package just days before I learned about their recent upgrade to i1Photo.
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After finding out about a software update that made things better for Snow Leopard, I set out to calibrate my monitor and printer, an Epson Photo RX620. I am presently using Lion but emails from Xrite say the software is fully compatible with this new OS.
I have to say, I really do not notice much difference in my monitor. Maybe I am missing something. Also, having done what is needed to calibrate this printer, I then printed the same picture using the profile created for me by the Colormunki and software and then again using the settings Epson provides. When the Colormunki profile was used, Photoshop handled color management and it was turned off in the Epson. In the case where Epson handled the color management, I just chose the best paper match provided, in my case a high gloss photo paper.
Looking at the two pictures, I cannot honestly see much if any difference. Epson seems to do every bit as good a job as the Colormunki profile. Have I spent over $500 and not seen any real difference? At this time Id have to say YES. Tell me, have I done anything wrong?
Also, should I consider a separate monitor for my iMac for when I use it for work with photos and the Lightroom/Photoshop combination I use? If so, could you please suggest a suitable monitor? As this is my only hobby, I could see spending between $500-1000 if the upper end really would make a difference. Oh, and fairly soon, I see that Epson printer being replaced with the Epson R3000 unless there is something better I should be considering.
FWTW: I got this reply from an expert in the field, I gather the iMac monitor is not the best choice for photography...
"The ColorMunki will not adjust the iMac screen to lower brightness to match paper white, so calibrating and profiling is a waste of time. And I would not suggest trying to use the iMac screen for digital photography. It is just sRGB *color range and white LED backlight is a dubious source to color manage. That's not my opinion it is the result of research done for the Cinema industry by a color scientist.
Quite a few of my readers who have iMacs have added a pro-graphics LCD display, and that works pretty well. The only other option is to trade what you have in and start over."
If this is true, what is the best monitor to purchase for photography and the Mac?
Thanks
Ron
I had heard in webinars, read in books and online that you really should calibrate your monitor. I have a 27 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 iMac that I wanted to calibrate. As I also read that printers should be calibrated too, I purchased the Xrite Colormunki Photo package just days before I learned about their recent upgrade to i1Photo.
.
After finding out about a software update that made things better for Snow Leopard, I set out to calibrate my monitor and printer, an Epson Photo RX620. I am presently using Lion but emails from Xrite say the software is fully compatible with this new OS.
I have to say, I really do not notice much difference in my monitor. Maybe I am missing something. Also, having done what is needed to calibrate this printer, I then printed the same picture using the profile created for me by the Colormunki and software and then again using the settings Epson provides. When the Colormunki profile was used, Photoshop handled color management and it was turned off in the Epson. In the case where Epson handled the color management, I just chose the best paper match provided, in my case a high gloss photo paper.
Looking at the two pictures, I cannot honestly see much if any difference. Epson seems to do every bit as good a job as the Colormunki profile. Have I spent over $500 and not seen any real difference? At this time Id have to say YES. Tell me, have I done anything wrong?
Also, should I consider a separate monitor for my iMac for when I use it for work with photos and the Lightroom/Photoshop combination I use? If so, could you please suggest a suitable monitor? As this is my only hobby, I could see spending between $500-1000 if the upper end really would make a difference. Oh, and fairly soon, I see that Epson printer being replaced with the Epson R3000 unless there is something better I should be considering.
FWTW: I got this reply from an expert in the field, I gather the iMac monitor is not the best choice for photography...
"The ColorMunki will not adjust the iMac screen to lower brightness to match paper white, so calibrating and profiling is a waste of time. And I would not suggest trying to use the iMac screen for digital photography. It is just sRGB *color range and white LED backlight is a dubious source to color manage. That's not my opinion it is the result of research done for the Cinema industry by a color scientist.
Quite a few of my readers who have iMacs have added a pro-graphics LCD display, and that works pretty well. The only other option is to trade what you have in and start over."
If this is true, what is the best monitor to purchase for photography and the Mac?
Thanks
Ron