Had an old monitor with the last computer and always knew how my pics would turn out  got my nice shiney new Dell with a nice flat monitor pics looked nice on it.

Shot some stuff and sent if off  they were happy enough with the pics.(had their own photoshop guy) Magazine

Now printed some stuff for myself calibration is miles off is there any easy way to sort out calibration or do I wait for my computer Guru friend to call with his set up equipment,

I read forums on calibration and it seems a bit mental?????

Any easy way


Ger   

Based on your description, it sounds like your ink/paper combination needs profiling, but before you do that you should really profile your monitor. Have a look at the Colour Confidence site to get an idea of some of the options open to you. My recomendation would be to go for a solution based on any of the X-Rite technology. The Eye One Display is probably the best option and reasonably priced too.

Printer profiling is an entirely different matter, and somewhat more expensive than just monitor profiling, but if you're doing this commercially, then it's worth investing time and money to get it right.

Actually, colour balance is something that people should be thinking of before they even pres the shutter button and based on what I've seen here on F32, it seems most people couldn't care less about colour correction

Incidentally, which Dell Monitor did you get?

- Thorsten.

Ultimately Ger, just let me know I work for Apple, we got brilliant screen especially for photographers and web designers :)

Guy

The best monitor in the world is no better than a cheap discount store flat screen if you don't go to the trouble of calibrating and profiling it.

Furthermore, I'd urge caution with the new Mac monitors (well, on the 20" IMac at least) as they's started using cheaper TN-panels instead of the usual S-IPS panels. If you've got some spare cash lying around and want the best, get yourself an Eizo ColorEdge monitor. The Eizo site has a great article on choosing a monitor for a CMS system at this link

I have read that the Apple monitors have a pink tinge to their display resolution.  I was going to buy one as Apple equipment is so good but I've been put off by this. Any comments?

For what it's worth, after months of agonising what to get, I finally settled on a Dell 2408WFP and although I only just set it up late last week, so far I'm loving it, with one caveat - I'm having a hard time moving from viewing a CRT screen to an LCD screen. I still think a good CRT screen reigns supreme for image editing.

The Dell 2408WFP seems to be getting good reviews and one of the most detailed that I've seen to date makes for interesting reading here

First there was Coke v Pepsi, CD v vinyl, Canon v Nikon & film v digital. Now LCD v CRT :-) That's it dude, start a new war.

I recently upgraded my monitor also. Got a Samsung 305T. The 2560x1600 resolution makes Lightroom and Photoshop both a pure joy to use. Bad news is that I'm now realising just how bad my old Iiyamas were - I'm seeing screw ups in my images I never realised were there :-(

It's funny that when buying a pC most folks think first about the processor speed, memory size and disk space. However, the monitor is the component you use most. I've quickly realised that this monitor is probably the best investment I've made in PC kit.

P

Thorsten, what price is the Dell?