Weekly Poll: Do you calibrate your monitor?

[sk66]

I use a spyder express. It's relatively cheap and about "the minimum" I'd consider. ($65-75)
It occurred to me to ask because I've found the pics on this site look significantly different when viewed on my computer vs from work (uncalibrated). Especially for the judges of contests, are your monitors calibrated?

[zetson]

I've just ordered the Pantone Huey (not PRO) from ebay. I just hope a don't get a defective one. Seems that many users experienced a color cast on their monitors after using it, though user error can occur.

Since these calibration tools are relatively cheap, I would say this is a must have for anyone who edit their pictures on the computer.

[edrex]

I just got the Sypder 2 Express about a week ago. Its worked great and was easy to use, but now I'm not sure about the color profile... every picture I open in PS asks if I want to discard the embedded profile and work in the Spyder 2 one. So (and I am very new to this - please bear with me) if I work in the Spyder 2 profile will the colors not turn out right for anything I post on the web that other people see? Or if I work in the Adobe RGB profile am I now seeing the wrong colors even with my monitor calibrated?
I did like the change it made to my monitor, but I'm not sure what to do now with PS.

[sk66]

I'd guess you have the adobe calibration thing running. I use the spyder for monitor calibration, I use pro photo in PS CS3. I don't know how Spyder is getting embedded into your pics...mine are embedded with adobe RGB, I work in prophoto. Import to your working profile (probably adobe RGB) the monitor will use Spyder. Save for web in SRGB. BAsicly, I save working file in prophoto, and jpegs in SRGB.

[sk66]

BTW, I do not use the adobe color management.

[dmvp]

I figure that as long as my printed pictures turn out how they look on my computer that I don't need to calibrate anything. Seems like a lot of people do, though.

It'd be interesting to see if the majority of people that DO calibrate use the same computer system, or possibly the same camera.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by dmvp

I figure that as long as my printed pictures turn out how they look on my computer that I don't need to calibrate anything. Seems like a lot of people do, though.

It'd be interesting to see if the majority of people that DO calibrate use the same computer system, or possibly the same camera.

I'd guess that as long as things remain consistent and reliable, you're ok (and lucky). I use a d300 and a high end dell laptop (not an ideal computer monitor)

[dimitrz]

Voted No.

As long as my the photos appear properly on my monitor things are fine for me. Anyway I dont think there is a big diffrence between calibrated & uncalib monitor so I am happy with my current settings. (correct me if I am wrong)

Oh yes.... one thing I have found out through experience is that any kind of editing is best done using a CRT monitor on a desktop rather than a LCD one on a laptop due to the fact that a slight change in monitor position of a LCD changes the image perspective


Cheers

[Nicole]

Great question sk66 I've decided it will make a great weekly poll this week.

[rrestivo]

Yes. I started using X-Rite i1. The changes I see on my display (HP w2408h) are subtle, but enough to make it worth the trouble.

Also, at the Chromoholics web site, http://www.fors.net/chromoholics/, you can find a download for a script that runs in Photoshop to adjust your image for errors in the way the sensor in your camera reads colors. The download is free, but you need to buy the ColorChecker chart by X-Rite (about $70). This only works if your shooting RAW images.

My prints are coming out very close to what I see on screen using printer profiles for my paper, so I haven't gone through the trouble of trying to profile my printer also.