Recommended color calibration tools for iMac and Mac Book Pro? Hi all-- I'm getting a new iMac next week--27" with the newest upgraded display, and wonder if any of you can recommend a...

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

Hi all--

I'm getting a new iMac next week--27" with the newest upgraded display, and wonder if any of you can recommend a good calibrator to do both it and my 13" MBP?

Any help from someone with experience in these matters would be greatly appreciated. I've done this before, but my old unit is several generations old, and I'd like some recommendations from folks who are up on the latest gear.

Thanks!!

TomKat Loc: Not here

I'm still holding on to a 2003 of th same flavor and it still going with no problems. I'm resistant to the new PS SUBSCRIPTION THEORY would prefer the bought and paid for version.. but I'm not a "PROFESSIONAL" with a steady income. Thanks Photoshop for leaving me in the Dust with CS5.
Would love to have the New 27" Pro, but backward compatible on legacy products is making me sour the upgrade on retired budget. I'm comfortable but don't have the disposable income. Any input or advice would also be appreciated. (Upgraded from D2Xs to D3S and cannot continue to spend money on new stuff due to job loss and retirement) it's either computer or camera, and at this point it's a computer.
tdm.SmugMug .com

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

TomKat wrote:

I'm still holding on to a 2003 of th same flavor a... (show quote)

CS5? Why not CS6 before they screwed us?

tcthome Loc: NJ

Xrite-1 pro display for monitors ., or the Spyder pro 5 from data color. I don't own Apple products but it will work with them. If you want to calibrate your printer also Xrite has the Color munki photo which does both. I believe all I mentioned also measure your ambient light in the room also. Check out B & H online.

easy8

I use the color munki photo works great on my MacBook an MacBook Pro I shoot tethered an download to external HD on the pro I print to sell an the munki does a great job

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

Thanks for your replies.

TomKat Loc: Not here

$$$$&What did we ever do before $$$&

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

moonhawk wrote:

Hi all--

I'm getting a new iMac next week--27" with the newest upgraded display, and wonder if any of you can recommend a good calibrator to do both it and my 13" MBP?

Any help from someone with experience in these matters would be greatly appreciated. I've done this before, but my old unit is several generations old, and I'd like some recommendations from folks who are up on the latest gear.

Thanks!!

X-RITE and DataColor make the most popular solutions. Check their websites for the latest information. What you need may vary, depending upon whether you have other separate displays, or plan to calibrate and profile inkjet printer and paper and ink combinations, etc.

I use a 2013 iMac that I calibrate with a DataColor Spyder5Pro. I don't make custom paper profiles. I do download and use paper manufacturers' profiles for their papers and my printer.

Note that your new iMac will calibrate much better than the 13" MacBook Pro. You may be able to get them close, but don't expect a perfect match. They use different screen technologies.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

I use the Spyder 5 Pro on my 27" iMac and it does a terrific job.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I use a Spyder Pro 5 on my iMac 5k Retina, MacBook Pro, and all my PCs. Works very well on all of them. I bought mine from B&H when they had them on special and saved quite a bit. Best of luck.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Using the built-in calibration system on your Mac is fine. The display will be good right out of the box. The Retina display will never be way off if you do nothing for years. If you ever get strange color casts in your prints it will not be your display. For a photographers intents and purposes the color will remain perfect. That's what you pay the big bucks for.
The one thing I will caution you on is that LCD displays in general are mostly too bright. I manually darken my Mac display till it most closely represents what my printer outputs in terms of brightness. It doesn't take much and it's more subjective than objective by the numbers.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Manglesphoto wrote:

CS5? Why not CS6 before they screwed us?

Screwed us?? Why are so many people think that. I think it is a heck of a good deal!!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

speters wrote:

Screwed us?? Why are so many people think that. I think it is a heck of a good deal!!

If you do the numbers, it is! But you have to make the assumption that you would have intended to upgrade Photoshop at least every other full release version.

Those who think Adobe is a greedy, evil, giant corporation picking their pockets should probably just switch to Affinity Photo. $50 once.

Those of us who have years invested in learning will subscribe or keep subscribing. Pros won't even blink.

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

burkphoto wrote:

X-RITE and DataColor make the most popular solutio... (show quote)

Thank you Bill, and everyone else. I went ahead and ordered the Color Munki Photo. Does does my printer as well as my monitor. Reviews were generally favorable, including a positive recommended from Andrew Rodney.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

moonhawk wrote:

Thank you Bill, and everyone else. I went ahead and ordered the Color Munki Photo. Does does my printer as well as my monitor. Reviews were generally favorable, including a positive recommended from Andrew Rodney.

Andrew "The Digital Dog" Rodney knows his stuff! He used to do seminars at the Digital Imaging Marketing Association meetings I attended at PMAI conventions back about 15 years ago. Yeah, you want that one to profile printers and monitors.