I had a 17" CRT monitor and got really hacked off with the fact that my prints rarely looked like what I was seeing on screen. I'd had my printer calibrated but was still wasting a lot of ink and paper.
In the end the chap who was writing profiles for my printer explained that, unless I had a top quality TFT monitor, calibrating that accurately was nigh on impossible. In the end I sold it and bought a second hand Trinitron CRT 21" monitor off ebay for £90 and now what I see is what I get.
Although it takes up a lot of desk space and does not look sexy, it was the best thing I've done!
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Originally Posted by yelvertoft
As for what the original picture looked like, you're better judging that from a print.
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I would agree PROVIDED you've had your printer properly profiled. If you are relying on the drivers that ship with the printer then, in my experience, its a bit of a hit & miss affair. This is particularly the case if you want to use a paper from a different manufacturer - say if you want a fine art or linen finish for example, or want to use a cheaper paper. By having my Epson 1290 profiled I can get excelent results with Jessops own paper which is about 1/2 the price of Epson
The contact I use works by post and charges £10.50 for the first paper & £5 thereafter - if anyone want details please contact me (and I'm not on commission LOL).
The alternative is to have your prints done professionally. Web based
Proam Imaging do a very good job at a ridiculously low prices (£1 for 18" x 12" + postage). The only downside is that you have to pre prepare you images to their own spec – 402 dpi (why 402??) and convert the document profile to a colour space they provide on their website. That said the results are very good (maybe I should look into commissions!!)
Opps - have I got a bit off topic?
