I am looking into getting the Spyder3 express. I am having issues where my Mac is way to bright and my pictures are coming back darker then what is on my screen and very blah. I recently went into displays and moved the brightness slider all the way to the left, but my prints are still darker then what is on my screen. Will getting calibrated help with this? I am reading that express does not do this for you. Every time I restart my computer I have to readjust my brightness. Is there a way to save it to default. I have been ordering from Costco with auto correct off and I edit in CS5. Thanks for any help!
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For those who are calibrated on a Mac.....
- Thread starter cricket1997
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The DataColor device should be fine. I use an i1 device from X-Rite that meets my needs. Searching on some variant of the word calibration should return some productive threads as this topic comes up frequently.
Spyder - not so sure
I recently updated from an old Monaco Optix pro system to a Spyder Express. I had been given a copy of the Datacolor Elite software by a friend, who had bought an extra copy in error. Unfortunately, even though the colorimeter is identical from the Express to the Elite systems, there is something in the Express colorimeter that says it was bought with Express software and prevents it working with the better software. I am not too impressed with the results even with single screen profiling (I wanted to use the Elite to profile 2 different screens on the same machine my Powermac, which has a Lacie Electron Blue MkiV 22" screen and a Sun Microsystems Image Pro-3 22" screen). On CRT's the result are very poor and I have gone back to a Monaco Optix profile. On LCD screens (iMac CCFL and MacBook Pro LED) at least the screens are consistent in appearance with each other but I think both too cool and bright, as all my prints from both HP Photosmart Pro B9180 and Canon Pixma Pro 9500 are now too warm and dark. I am using the standard Ilford printer profiles for the two printers for the Galerie Smooth Pearl paper I use, so there should be little error there. I have run the auto profiling on both printers. I am less than blown away by these relatively cheap colour profilers and I am not sure I don't get better results just using the built in colour profiling system for a Mac on the advanced setting.
Wilson
I recently updated from an old Monaco Optix pro system to a Spyder Express. I had been given a copy of the Datacolor Elite software by a friend, who had bought an extra copy in error. Unfortunately, even though the colorimeter is identical from the Express to the Elite systems, there is something in the Express colorimeter that says it was bought with Express software and prevents it working with the better software. I am not too impressed with the results even with single screen profiling (I wanted to use the Elite to profile 2 different screens on the same machine my Powermac, which has a Lacie Electron Blue MkiV 22" screen and a Sun Microsystems Image Pro-3 22" screen). On CRT's the result are very poor and I have gone back to a Monaco Optix profile. On LCD screens (iMac CCFL and MacBook Pro LED) at least the screens are consistent in appearance with each other but I think both too cool and bright, as all my prints from both HP Photosmart Pro B9180 and Canon Pixma Pro 9500 are now too warm and dark. I am using the standard Ilford printer profiles for the two printers for the Galerie Smooth Pearl paper I use, so there should be little error there. I have run the auto profiling on both printers. I am less than blown away by these relatively cheap colour profilers and I am not sure I don't get better results just using the built in colour profiling system for a Mac on the advanced setting.
Wilson
If you can afford it, then I would suggest buying the Spyder 3 Pro. Yes, it is $150, but its a buck fifty well spent. I had been using the adobe gamma feature within OSX, and finally invested into Spyder 3 Pro. Though my 23" ACD, was not all that far off (it was a bit more saturated, than anything else), the 24" iMac was quite a bit off from what it switched to, once calibrated. Now everything looks nice & even, either when browsing through photos, or editing them in PS CS3/ CS5.
Thanks for the replies! My next question is regarding the controls of brightness. I have been reading the brightness controls on the more recent macs can be controlled more then the older macs. Of course my Mac is from 06 and I read that I might have to buy another software to get my brightness down where I need it. (grrrrrr) Anyone have a older mac and use spyder and just have the brightness slider to the left.
The Spyder 3 pro is only 128 and ships free at B and H
and I saw something that it has Custom Luminance Control. Will that be enough?
The Spyder 3 pro is only 128 and ships free at B and H
and I saw something that it has Custom Luminance Control. Will that be enough?
You don't say what type of monitor you're using. The best colorimeter in the world won't help you if you're using a monitor that isn't up to snuff for photo editing. If you have some kind of IPS display, then you're in good shape, and yes calibrating can help this problem. You need to calibrate to a luminance of about 100cd/m2 for print.
It is a 17inch Imac that I bought in fall of 06 with they first went to intel base. I have been doing some more reading and it looks like if I get that program I can get the brightness down to calibrate. Some people with older macs are using it. I really hate to upgrade my mac right now. I know it is 4 years old, but I still want to wait a couple of years if possible.
One other thing to consider is a combination screen+printer calibrator if your main goal is to print with your own computer with good color accuracy. From what I've read, you can have a perfectly calibrated screen to your environment and still get some nasty printing coming out of it if you don't use both. I haven't used one, but the colormunki combo seems to be well regarded for the price.
