I See Your True Colors Shining Through
Posted in Computer Tips and Tricks, Just for Beginners | 9 Comments »
9 Comments »
(Slide from TDF5)
After my post last week where I shared my iPhone skin that printed exactly as I saw it on my monitor, I had a few comments and emails asking about how to calibrate monitors. I figure that there are probably more scrappers out there with “sad eyes” than there are scrappers seeing “true colors shining through” from their monitor to print. After all, I was one of those scrappers with an uncalibrated monitor until not too long ago myself.
How do you know if you need to calibrate your monitor or not? The first part of this great article at imaging-resource.com has some easy tests for you to see how badly your monitor needs calibrating. Most monitors will need some adjusting.
There are some ways to calibrate your monitor for free without having to buy software or gadgets. For most scrappers, this will work great! Until I started working with the other Stephanie to design digital supplies, I used these various methods and they worked fine for me. Wikihow.com has a great article with some tips on how to calibrate your monitor for free. It will work for people on most platforms. The article also briefly explains a few pay-for gadgets and software tools to help in calibration.
If you are a designer, photographer, or addicted scrapper that would like a perfectly calibrated monitor, then the second part of this article by imaging-resources.com explains the differences between the different Spyder products for calibration. From the different articles I have read, it seems most graphic designers and photographers use Spyder products, but if you have had success with other items on the market, we would love to hear about it!
For years, I read on the message boards in digiworld about monitor callibration, but was a little…okay…a lot intimidated by it. After buying my Spyder and running the calibration, I realize that I really had nothing to be affraid! So to quote (again) Cyndi Lauper and run the risk of bordering on corny , “don’t be affraid to let them show, your true colors are beautiful….like a rainbow!”
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Hi Janet -
Thanks for the informative post – I’ve often read about calibrating monitors, and I’ve always had one question: I use a 32″ widescreen LCD TV as my “monitor”. Can this be calibrated as well?
Thanks again for all of your great posts on this site
Hi Janet, I was wondering which Spyder model you purchased. I’ve been considering one of these and wonder if I really need to go high end with one or if the lower end would be ok.
Thanks!!!
I use a Pantone Huey. Just the regular one, not pro and it is awesome! Even my husband commented on the color after I calibrated. We enjoy watching movies and playing games on the computer, so having a calibrated monitor is really nice!
Thanks so much – this was just what I needed!
Thank you, your posts are interesting and informative.
Thank you, Steph! I’ll try to do it sometime later.
Thank you SO much! Earlier this week I posted a request for help on the 2peas digi scrapping board. I am DEFINITELY going to get the Spyder…I do a little designing of notecards and such and it is SO frustrating trying to adjust the colors.
I have just recently found your blog and I AM HOOKED FOR LIFE!
[...] display calibration – a list of resources for getting colors just right [...]
I used the Spyder to calibrate my monitor about a year ago or so, and it is still looking pretty good. I checked the article you linked to, and the only “test” it doesn’t pass is the gamma one.