Confused – Color control with multiple utilities available

DG
Posted By
Don_Gough
Jan 8, 2009
Views
374
Replies
4
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Closed
I have Photoshop 7, Monaco EzColor, NVidia 6800 card with a control panel, and a SyncMaster 193 Plus digital monitor with control software. ALL of these can change the monitor qualities. I use Monaco to profile my scanner and printer – it does a great job; it can profile the monitor also.

My question is: what would be the best overall CM system – which combination of controls (or which one)would be best (the monitor control utility has stopped working and I have turned it off).

I would appreciate very much any advice born from experience.

Thanks

vangogh

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CF
chris_farrell
Jan 8, 2009
Just use the Monaco to profile everything…Keep your nVidia 6800 at the default settings and throw the Samsung software in the bin…:)..restore your monitor to factory default before you calibrate it.

Make sure you have all cm software out of the startup folder…especially adobe gamma…as they will interfere with the Monaco profile when you load windows….

Hopefully that works.
DG
Don_Gough
Jan 8, 2009
Thank you, Chris, sounds authoritative.

One more…. some system changes are forcing me to recalibrate printer and monitor (as above). I have a Photosmart 8250 HP. Printing from Photoshop AdobeRGB, I have choices in the Photoshop Print With Preview window, Color Management (or Output) and the Monaco printer profile with Perceptual (which I’ve been using).

In the HP Properties dialog I have a Color tab with a Color Management box, ("ColorSmat sRGB, Adobe RGB, Managed by Application, and ICM). Up until now I’ve been using "Managed by Application".

I am assuming this is the best route. Of course, the Monaco calibrating settings would have to be similar. Your comments, please?

Thanks

vangogh
CF
chris_farrell
Jan 8, 2009
Managed by application sounds like the best route.

Didn’t mean to sound authoritative…just being efficient during my procrastination break. 🙂
G
gowanoh
Jan 8, 2009
As stated: set your monitor to its defaults settings and calibrate. You cannot reliably adjust brightness or contrast on the vast majority of consumer LCD panels for use in color management. Ignore anything you read that directs you to set a target white point and adjust the monitor during calibration. You will only drive yourself crazy.
Nearly all consumer grade LCD panels will calibrate well for color but the calibration will usually yield prints that are too dark. This is because LCD panels are too bright and there is no practical way to adjust them. It is usually better to develop a work-around and adjust the image brightness before you print. Some of the apparent darkenss in a print is psychological: you cannot shift your eyes from an ultrabright monitor to a reflective print and adequately judge the compariteve brightness of the print. It appears that you need to get up to speed on color management and color managed printing. The instructions with the older Monaco calibration devices can be misleading.
In general for color managed printing in Photoshop you should select Photoshop to manage color printing, select as the profile the type of paper you will be printing with (e.g. the HP driver should have installed profiles for HP papers), and set up your printer driver so that all color management will be turned off and the print preview option selected. As I recall, with my Monaco Optixx and Epson printer, the print preview (which was not color managed) would have the pink tinge of double color management, signifying in this case that printer settings were correct. Your experience may vary.

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