How to propertly calibrate my iMac

[jason.williams]

I would like to learn how to really calibrate my iMac monitor (i have the 20" from February).

Anyway, I noticed that if I am not under a ton of lighting, the letters/words in any application (safari, mail etc.) look a little fuzzy/scratchy/not sharp. I don't like it and I want to fix it ASAP.

It is really starting to bug me so I wanted to see about how to properly calibrate my monitor.

I use my iMac for casual work. However, I also do use it for photography (not professional...just hobby...use Lightroom, Photoshop CS3 and Aperture 2).

I have heard of some expensive options you can buy (spyder I believe), but before I go that route, I would like to see how other people calibrate the monitor.

I tried using the builtin calibrator, but it doesn't seem to be very intuitive. Unless I am doing it wrong, I get a little confused when trying to follow the directions (advanced mode).

So I was hoping to get help here.

Thanks!

Jason

[CaptainChunk]

I tried using the builtin calibrator, but it doesn't seem to be very intuitive. Unless I am doing it wrong, I get a little confused when trying to follow the directions (advanced mode).

The built-in calibrator creates custom color profiles for your monitor and nothing more. You can't do a true calibration with that alone because you have no reference of what a calibrated monitor should look like. You need tools that can measure things like actual color temperature and light output and that's what products like the Spyder do.