gekko Loc: Peekskill, NY

Used to do B&W photgraphy in HS many years ago. Finally making the plunge to DSLR. Just bought a Canon T4i kit with a Canon Pixma 9000 printer. Also just bought Elements 10. I don't have the room in my office for the printer, so I want to set it up in another room. Any recommendations on what would be a good computer and monitor set up. Specifically, what specs would be ideal for digital photoprocessing? What monitor is best at showing true colors relating to printout?

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

I'm no expert on the matter of which you write, because in all the years (since the mid 1980s) I've been buying computers, monitors and printers, I've never had a significant problem with printing close to what the monitor shows, except for the times I used photo paper foreign to the printer, I.E., Kodak paper with an HP printer, HP paper with a Canon printer, etc. Today's printers are exceptionally good at reproducing what the computer/monitor displays. I have three different brands of printers, HP, Canon & Epson, and so long as I use the same brand paper as the printer, the results are always very close to what I am expecting to see. Gizzy

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Gizzy,
You assume that what appears on the monitor is accurate. With many older VGA monitors, colors can be washed out and not vivid and details can be blurry. Also this member asked about suggetions for computer specs to both store and display photos.
I suspect that since you are starting out, your budget is limited. Most new laptops have sufficient resolution and color accuracy to display photos with reasonable accuracy. Having a video card with dedicated 1 Gig or more of memory is a definate plus for photo post processing. Depending on the megapixels of your camera and the type of files you intend to store, hard drive size may be of importance. Those RAW files generated by high pixel count cameras can really eat up space on a small hard drive.
Any of the newer processors. after the release of duel core CPUs should be sufficient for photo processing but for speed and ease of use, the newer CPUs starting with the Intel i5 or AMD compatible units should be sufficient. Just remember that the more RAM you have will definately improve the use of any PP program you use. I recommend a minimum of 4 Gig and 8 Gig will allow you to accomplish anything you might want to acheive in photography.
One rule that will assist you in your photographic adventure is to use manufacturer ink in your printer. Some of the off brand and secondary suppliers of ink cartriges do not reproduce accurate or lasting color on prints. Good ink, good paper, a sharp eye and adiquate and maintained equipment should get you what you seek in this hobby. And lots and lots of practice. Most important of all...have fun. It's a learning experience that never ends.

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

Greetings, my friend. No, it isn't me who was asking questions and/or having problems matching screen views to printed materials. It was the fellow (or perhaps the lady) I was writing to who posed the questions about this subject. I personally have never had a problem of that kind except, as I already said, when I mix-match printers with off-brand photo papers, or, like you said, if a person uses ink other than that intended for a specific brand of printer. I've been "computering" since the mid 1980s, and have a good deal of hard-learned experience making things work as expected. Thanks for responding. Gizzy

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Gizzy;
We're both responding to GEKKO in our answers. I just added a few comment that might have been pertaining.
We both forgot to mention the use of a color wheel or some other method to check the screen colors for accuracy. There are many out there But I have never used one I have a calibrated TRUE COLOR monitor and I only accationally check it against what my printers give me.

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

You don't need to use another computer to connect to the printer. All you need is a print server attached to your home network. You can then send your print jobs to the remote printer. If you have a wired network it is easy. If your network is wireless, it will be slightly more difficult.
Check to see if your printer has an Ethernet port on it. If it does, it probably has a built in print server.

gizzy.whicker Loc: Cumberland Co., Illinois

There also another factor to consider when trying to match screen images and printed duplicates: The image on the monitor is back lighted, whereas photos are viewed with reflected light. It's a case in which opposites are expected to to be the same. They'll never be exactly the alike, but I think today's technology does a very good job in the attempt. Gizzy

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

By definition, if you have a home network, there has to be a computer controlling it. Yes, you can use wireless networks as well, but there too, there must be some computer or control method that receives and sends data over the network either by Ethernet or by Wifi or BlueTotth and it knows the specific addresses of peripoherals.
The only way you don't need a computer is if you have a WIfi printer and your camera also has Wifi, In this case, the network controller is then the camera or printer. This would be the same as plugging in your camera directly to your printer with it's USB plug and using PICBRIDGE.

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Gizzy,
The new professional grade monitors using either LCD or Backlit LED do an excellent job of reproducing colors and hues as well as contrast. Some of them may be pricey but the mid range LED backlit IPS monitors from ASUS do an excellent job. Even the new 1080P or 1080i TV sets do a reasonable job if you do some adjusting and matching of color, hue and contrast. Some of these mid reange monitors are now selling for around $300 to $350 through NewEgg or TigerDirect. They even have some refurbished units at about half that price. Yes, you can spend over $2000 for professional monitors, but I have yet to rationalize the expense. Personally, I would rather spend a few more dollars on the video card with 2 gig of DDR5 than have Intel graphics that steals memory from my CPU RAM and not be able to get good video or resolution on some overpriced monitor. I recently purchased an ASUS PA248Q and a PA278Q and both of them give superb photo and video reproduction And the ASUS units come with full replacement warrantee (including free shipping) lasting longer that anyone else in the industry JMHO

Larrie Loc: NE Ohio

The key word is IPS (In Plane Switching) monitor. These are not readily found on the shelves of big box stores as the alternative TN (Twisted Nematic) monitors are. IPS monitors have truer colors that don't drift nor do the colors change when viewed from different angles as do the TN models. They usually come with calibration papers from the factory. Google or Wikipedia both for a complete explanation and comparison. I also think the ASUS ProArt IPS models are the best bang for the buck.

The Watcher

This site will give you some insight on monitors.
http://www.photographylife.com/best-monitor-for-photography

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Watcher,
The article you posted is now out of date. NewEgg,TigerDirect, Amazon and others, now have significantly lower prices than stated by this writer.

EXAMPLES:

ASUS PA-238Q IPS LED monitors.........under $250
ASUS PA-248Q IPS LED monitors.........under $319.
ASUS PA-246Q IPS LCD monitors.........under $450.
ASUS PA-278Q IPS LED monitors.........under $500.

All of the ASUS monitors come with a 3 year full replacement warranty. Best in the business.

And "Black Friday" isn't even here yet.

The Watcher

I didn't post the link suggesting the OP buy one of the listed monitors. I posted it to give some insight into what to look for, when buying a flat screen monitor for photography. I still use a old CTR Nec multi-sync 97F which has a flat screen.

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Watcher,
I posted this responce to allert the thread originator that the article states prices that are old and out of date and the LCD version from ASUS (PA-246Q) has new LED versions with the same specs and cheaper pricing. I didn't add that the PA-248Q also has 4 convenient USB ports and quick charging capabilities for camera, phone, or a USB card reader. I've found that these come in mighty handy and make transfer of photos from my cameras to my computer even easier. JMHO

Larrie Loc: NE Ohio

Several asides, I can't confirm this but the impression I got is that the IPS screens used by all the end product manufacturer's are produced by one, possibly two, third party suppliers. You often have to dig to find out which monitors are IPS. The manufacturers just don't slap a "IPS" sticker on the screen or in the specs. If browsing a bank of monitors the easiest way to distinguish (besides price) is to press the ball of your finger on the screen. If you see a ripple effect radiating from the contact it is not IPS. Also IPS screens will be roughly twice as deep