Digital BW, The Print

Ben

Well that's the decision at hand.  If you want colour management then do it
right.  That includes getting a device that can accommodate your needs as
they grow.  An Eye-One Photo is one device that does it right and does it
all - there are others that are cheaper and considerably more that are more
expensive.  But trying to strike a middle ground will, IMHO, only lead to
your "busman's holiday", frustration and potentially stranded
infrastructure.  If you're not up for the equipment necessary, I can only
suggest getting your monitor calibration as good as you can (perhaps by
outsourcing the calibration) and leveraging the work generously shared here
by people who have put down the hard cash (eg print and RIP curves, soft
proofs and ICC profiles).  But understand the limits of that approach.  For
one, you will be dependent on the work of others and unable to explore your
own horizons.  That's not to say that isn't fine - it's simply one of the
possible outcomes from the question you originally posed.

BTW Adorama sells them for $1140 and I am sure you might find a used model a
lot cheaper.  Personally I would recommend against buying just a monitor
calibrator that is unable to do reflective readings and printer calibration
- if you can.  They are however much cheaper (c. $200). I'd rather look for
a spectrophotometer that can, perhaps one second-hand.  With the latter you
can do so much more:  custom colour profiles (eg for a paper for which a
custom profile is not readily available), RIP linearization, soft proofs and
greyscale ICC profiles.  The danger with the former is that you later find
yourself trying to flog a product that no longer meets your needs for 30c in
the dollar on eBay.

Good luck

Steve


> From: Ben Rosengart <yahoo.com@...>

> 
> On Wed, Sep 28, 2005 at 03:07:46PM +0100, Steve Kale wrote:
>> 
>> Unfortunately colour management is only as good as your weakest link.  It
>> also isn't perfect.  But with a good measurement device such as the Gretag
>> Macbeth Eye One you can most anything you'll likely need (display, colour
>> printer, greyscale ICCs, RIP linearization etc).  They still aren't cheap
>> (even though they are dramatically cheaper than they used to be) but they
>> are incredibly useful.
> 
> Looks like there are a bunch of products and bundles sold under the
> "Eye One" name.  Which one in particular do you recommend?
> 
> Wow, "Eye-One Photo" is US$1400.  And you wonder why I might "deprive
> myself"?  :-)
>