Hi, This may seem a little trivial to y’all, but I’m hoping that some kind soul would point me in the right direction.
I used to be a photographer, and after having stopped for about 10 years, I’m itching to take it up again semi-seriously. I’m in the process of determining (and purchasing) the hardware to get me started.
I’ll be using a Mac Pro, either a Dell (27") or a Apple Cinema Display (23"), an Epson V700 and an Epson Stylus Pro 3850.
Now, whilst I appreciate that the displays would need to be calibrated and profiled, I’m wondering if I would need to purchase a device that would also calibrate the scanner and printer.
If yes, any recommendations on the device/software bundle?
Am I right to say that an alternative would be to buy a device for calibrating/profiling the display, whilst purchasing printer or scanner profiles separately.
Again, my apologies for what seems like trivial queries.
This is not so trivial I’m sure there are at least 64 other people reading your question who are wondering the same thing. Perhaps the reason some people are hesitant to answer your question is because it is a big topic.
Once you have a device to calibrate and profile your monitor, you might not need anything else. A lot depends on how particular you are with your color and how much you want the screen to match your scanner & printer. Also it depends on how well your printer & scanner do with their “canned” profiles. Sometimes, the color looks great as is, but with some workflows you need more.
Assuming that you need custom scanner & printer profiles, there is such a thing as “scanner-based” profiling which is inexpensive, but not generally recommended. The biggest reason being that your printer profile will necessarily be restricted to your scanner’s gamut. Steve Upton wrote a little more on this here:
Proper printer profiles require a spectrophotometer to read reflective color measurements. That can be pricey, especially if you’ll be only using a couple of printers and a few different papers. The Eye-One Pro is available from CHROMiX and other vendors, it will do your monitor calibrations, and it can include a scanner module as well.
And you are right, a popular alternative is to have custom printer profiles made, and scanner profiles - also from CHROMiX and other vendors.
For a good overview of your options concerning monitor and printer profiles, read the first part of this colorwiki article: colorwiki.com/wiki/Printer_t … _my_Screen
