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apagano

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Calibration

I am a professional photograpoher and a new photoshop user. Equipt. Mac G4 w/ photoshop 5.5 printing to an Epson Stylus 1200, Mac 17" studio display.

Problem: I have unsucsessfully tried calibrating my monitor to my final print and all that I have read only adds to my confusion.... can anyone give step by step instructions easily understood regarding calibration of all my devices?
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thethunderbolts

some more specific details plz, this would really help anybody who would read your question and try to reply.
The specifics are all there. However its still a difficult question as it delves into the mystical voodoo of color calibration for print. There are entire books written about how to get it all to look right (and they arent small books either). You definitely want to use colorsync but as far as the gradient scales, calibration bars, and such you may have to make a run down to your local bookstore and grab a color calibration for print book. It should (if its any good) provide you with a 50% grey card, a 0%-100% black gradient card, and a standard color card that you will need to calibrate your scanner and compare to your printer output.
If you mean making the size appearing on your screen match that of the print size, then go Image/Image Size, and check what is says below image size, labelled "Print Size".  Make sure it matches the Image size.  Or, you could go Percent and do 100%, thus making the screen size the same as the print size.
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kencam

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If apagano is using a Mac then his options for color management are vastly greater than Adobe's Color Management. ColorSync is a systemwide management system thats built right into the OS at a system level.

Second, using sRGB as a profile when the output will be a printer (especially on a mac) is bad mojo. sRGB was a profile created by Adobe to attempt to get all monitors to look the same. Unfortunately they used a grossly small color gamut which resulted in a darker screen more conisistant with a PC than a Mac. Since printer output is reduced in color gamut yet again your final output will be bland to say the least. If you really want to calibrate your system accurately you will create a custom monitor profile specifically for your system via the Monitors & Sound control panel. Then you get the full range of colors that your monitor can display.
Weed,

You have interesting opinions regarding color gamuts for sRGB that are not supported by monitor manufacturers, Adobe, Microsoft, or printer manufacturers such as Epson, Hewlett Packard, and Canon.  

Perhaps you should contact those companies and straighten them out so the entire world would benefit from your vastly better knowledge in these areas than they apparently can find within their own staffs.  

It must be a miracle, considering all the bad things you tell us about my methods, but it works great for me and also for lots of others I help with monitor calibration.  

We all wish we had your background, knowledge and experience to draw on so we could criticize, condemn and complain about help that other folks offer.

kencam
Ken, ive been doing this for too many years to to accept as gospel what every company tells me. Just because Adobe says "use sRGB" doesnt mean its a good idea. sRGB is a quick and dirty profile thats best kept to web based uses. That does not mean its good for a Mac user or print based uses.
Apagano,

I gave you the step by step process you were looking for.

You may use a different color space if you are of the same belief as weed, that sRGB is an inferior color space.

However, the step by step instructions seem to be the answer you were seeking.  If it is not, would you be so kind as to explain where it falls short?

kencam
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Dear Kencam,

Perhaps my acceptance of your answer did not register ... I accepted your answer regarding calibration and rated it as excellent! It was a great help and I thank you. I will once again hit the acceptance button .

Thank You Apagano
Got it, thanks.