Calibrating monitos and printer so WYSIWYG

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've struggled to obtain consistent results from monitor to inkjet printer output. Add more than one monitor and send your digital file to a custom professional lab, and you really compound the problem!

I know that ColorVision and others make hardware and software that will assist with, or eliminate, the problem. And I've read George Lepp and others who basically say you must first calibrate your monitor to an industry standard first, and then use printer profiles for the given paper, printer, and ink you are using.

Here are my questions:

1. Is it necessary (from a practical stand point) to purchase hardware & software to calibrate ones monitor(s)?

2. Is it worth the money to buy such hardware and software, and if so, how much must you spend to get something worthwhile?

3. Do printer/ink/paper profiles from manufacturers (or any other source for that matter) generally give one acceptable results, or do you need to purchase hardware and software to develop your own printer/ink/paper combination profiles?

4. What products do you have experience with that you would (or wouldn't) recommend

What I would ultimately like to have is confidence that the colors, tonalities, contrast, shadow and highlight detail, brightness, etc. remains relatively consistent from laptop monitor to desktop monitor, to inkjet printer output, to quality custom lab output.

It would seem that ColorVision has most of the market, and offer multiple "solutions" ranging in price from $80 for a simple "express" monitor calibration "Spyder" and software, to $600 "pro" version that includes printer profiler hardware and software, to a $3500 for a so called Complete Color Management System for Professional Photographers and Studios. Have any of you used any of these products? What are your experiences or suggestions?

I am currently photographing with a Nikon D200, I use a Toshiba laptop, I have a ViewSonic standalone CRT monitor and an Acer LCD standalone monitor, an Epson R1800 Inkjet printer. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am especially interested in hearing from those who have experienced such problems and found solutions.
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Mike

1. YES!
2. YES! Under $100
3. Depends on the printer/ink/paper you are using and how critical that the print looks **Exactly** like what you see on the screen. IMHO this is impossible though because the screen is illuminated from behind (transmission) and a print is illuminated from in front (reflection). Softproofing can get them close, but because of the different illuminations, they can never look the same. (I expect others to trounce me for that one)
4. I use the Huey for my monitors and am happy with it. I'll probably upgrade to Huey Pro soon, just becuse it has a more refined calibration routine.

1 Mike profiling your monitor is necessary 100% Without calibration we can't compare

2 The calibrating software I use is X-rite goes for $250

3 Manufacturers paper profiles are generally good People into printing usually buy/make their own profiles

4 See number two Have used the Spyder also Would recommend the X-Rites

This is what I use: www.tinyurl.com/2bx9fm

Aside from a little confusion over which browsers were and were not color managed, I've been having great results.

Richard, Alfred, and Jim,

Thanks for your helpful and insightful responses.:) It would appear that there are several good choices available to help assure that there is some consistency between camera, monitor, and finished print. It would also appear that depending on ones budget, work-flow, and photographic needs, satisfactory results can be achieved anywhere from the <$100 Huey, to the $1,500 X-rite Eye-One Photo, and anywhere in between.

I think the important lessons here are that some sort of monitor calibration is absolutely necessary if you hope to achieve any level of consistency from monitor to print, and that any available product - regardless of price - will assist in the process.

This has been a huge help. Thanks again! :D

Mike

If you are using an LCD monitor I strongly suggest the X-Rite and eye one (ione) product. While it costs a bit more than some it does a great job and will pay for itself in lack of aggravation and time.

Mike,

You might want to check out Michael Reichmann's offering of almost seven hours on DVD "From Camera to Print" that he produced with Jeff Schewe. You can find the DVD at luminous-landscape.com. It answers your questions and more.