monitor calibrating: hi there UH I just got a couple of questions to ask any of you pros here I am looking to buy myself a cheap ColorVision Spyder2 Plus but i am not sure if this item...

john Muriel Loc: WEST LONDON

hi there UH
I just got a couple of questions to ask any of you pros here
I am looking to buy myself a cheap ColorVision Spyder2 Plus but i am not sure if this item is compatible with an imac OS X, Also i am using photoshop cs5.5

Can anyone who has used it before give me any pointers and how good is it?

is it worth buying it?

Many thanks in advance

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Any calibrator is better than none, and the Spyder2 works reasonably well. There are newer and better units out there - I use a Pulse Color Elite, though the Spyder is still around here someplace. None are truly cheap.

None yet are perfect though. There are too many exogenous factors, like the light on the monitor and the light on the final print when viewed. The human eye is adaptable to light in ways color profiles still can't quite match.

john Muriel Loc: WEST LONDON

thanks heaps for your advice. You are right about any calibator better than none

thanks again

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Another limitation- the iMacs are great, but screen resolution calibrates only to sRGB. You'd need a better monitor to calibrate to Adobe RGB. If you sent your work out for printing on photographic paper it is a moot point, as all labs print in the sRGB colorspace.

john Muriel Loc: WEST LONDON

I am getting confused now, So what do you suggest i should do?

set photoshop to SRGB Mode and take pictures in the SRGB MODE too?

sorry i lost you there, Do you care to elaborate?
sorry for the inconvenience

GrahamS Loc: Hertfordshire, U.K

romanticf16 wrote:

Another limitation- the iMacs are great, but screen resolution calibrates only to sRGB. You'd need a better monitor to calibrate to Adobe RGB. If you sent your work out for printing on photographic paper it is a moot point, as all labs print in the sRGB colorspace.

This is not correct. The Apple iMac will soft proof in AdobeRGB very well. Many commercial labs accept files with AdobeRGB colour space profile. Only the high-street labs such as Wallmart and Costco and the like ask for sRGB files exclusively.

GrahamS Loc: Hertfordshire, U.K

john Muriel wrote:

I am getting confused now, So what do you suggest i should do?

set photoshop to SRGB Mode and take pictures in the SRGB MODE too?

sorry i lost you there, Do you care to elaborate?
sorry for the inconvenience

You won't need more than sRGB for general photography and printing, but if you intend making exhibition quality prints or fine art prints, then you may want to use AdobeRGB. I do everything in AdobeRGB and convert the profile of files intended for the web and for mass printing to sRGB. My iMac is calibrated to match my Canon 9500i printer, and I print exhibition prints using AdobeRGB profile.

mtnredhed Loc: The part of NorCal that doesn't move

I have the Color Munki by xrite. Very happy with it and it made a huge difference. They periodically have sales/rebates

john Muriel Loc: WEST LONDON

ok everything starting to make sense, I have been doing some research

thanks alot for the info, helped me understand it in more detail

once again thanks for the insight

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

OK, to be more specific: in 2007 the 21" iMac would not calibrate even to sRGB, the 24" could be calibrated, but only to sRGB standards. You could not adjust the monitor enough to get the Adobe gamut. Maybe the newer monitors have improved their capabilities for being calibrated?

GrahamS Loc: Hertfordshire, U.K

romanticf16 wrote:

OK, to be more specific: in 2007 the 21" iMac would not calibrate even to sRGB, the 24" could be calibrated, but only to sRGB standards. You could not adjust the monitor enough to get the Adobe gamut. Maybe the newer monitors have improved their capabilities for being calibrated?

I have no such issues and my 24" is cc 2010.