Amateur Designer: Color Managment/Calibration

[aoberoi]

im kind of the new kid on the block when it comes to graphic design, but id like to get involved in it more, as well as web design too. with that said i wanted to ask for some advice.

i have a mbp c2d. i also have an external display that is a samsung 204bw. what should i do about color calibration? i want some suggestions on the hardware tools i should be looking at. keep in mind im a beginner and i want to keep things as inexpensive as possible, so its okay if its just basic, but maybe an explanation of what im missing by going for the cheap alternative would be nice.

also, how about color managed workflows? ive been using photoshop for years and i have CS3 on my machine, i want to make sure my webdesign and my prints come out accurate. what should i know and where can i learn it?

thanks so much in advance for offering your advice. i really appreciate it!

 

[chaosbunny]

Well you can always get one of these hardware calibrators, but if money is tight calibrating it by your eyes with the calibration tool in the system preferences is enough at first in my opinion. If color is really crucial, you have to get a pantone book and use pantone colors for Logos & business cards etc., or order a proof from the printer anyway.

For the color managed workflow, I would set rgb & cmyk profiles in Bridge CS3 so you work in the same color spaces in all of the CS3 applications.

Webdesign is a different matter, you can't really be accurate here, since everybody will view your website on a different monitor, and not everybody has a high quality one.

 

[ChrisA]

As a first step you have to calibrate your monitor. I use the Spyder 2. If money is tight buy the "express" version. It says it can't do multiple displays. That's true. But you can use it to calibrate you primary monitor, save the profile then switch which monitor is "primary" and then calibrate your (new) primary monitor and save the profile using a different name. Cost is about $65 for the expres version.

 

[aoberoi]

thanks for the fast replies guys!

i am most likely going to order the spyder2express as was suggested. i found a deal to get it for 60 shipped on amazon! but i just wanted to know, besides not being able to do 2 monitors without our little "workaround" (ps thanks so much!), what else may not be as nice as in the more expensive packages (sypder2pro or spyder 3)? im sure the spyder2express is good enough for me, but it would just be nice to know.

im not too sure where to get started in bridge cs3 with color managment. can anyone show me to a good tutorial?

once again, thanks

 

[snickelfritz]

Just my 2¢...
OSX software calibration is accurate enough for 99% of the work you're likely to be doing. (I'm achieving virtually perfect color matching on CMYK print jobs, on a regular basis)
I'd recommend Supercal (inexpensive shareware) for creating a more accurate profile.

Hardware calibration is a little over the top for a beginner, IMO.

GL