UGH!!! Monitor calibration woes....

[momtutu]

I do my editing on my Dell laptop. I don't have a desktop anymore.

I just got my Shutterfly calendar back and everything looks completely oversaturated - wwwaaaahhhhh!!!

It's definitely my monitor as I had my sister log in on her computer as me and look at the pictures and what she describes seeing is what the calendar printed out while on my monitor everything looks super.

Sooooo.....I'm done with editing and scrapping on this computer for now but I'm wondering 2 things - well, maybe 3 things....

#1 - How much does it run to get a laptop monitor calibrated and is it hard to do? And where would I find software to do that?

#2 - Would it be better to just invest in a separate monitor and would that hook up to my laptop and if so, what would a good brand to invest in be?

#3 - If #2 isn't a good option, what desktop computer should I look at for having a good monitor that prints out what it actually looks like on the monitor?

SO FRUSTRATED!!!!

[ColleenSwerb]

Did you make sure to turn off vivid pics on each page of the calendar?

A monitor calibrator is an actual device that you place on top of the monitor. It reads the colors that are coming back, and adjusts accordingly. The problem with a laptop, is that everytime you open and close the laptop, the monitor is going to display differently. If you get a seperate monitor to plug into your laptop to use as display, you'll be fine.
Any sort of monitor would be fine, really. I'm pretty sure they're relatively cheap now-a-days.

[momtutu]

I don't see "vivid pics" anywhere on the edit pages!! Is that a button that's hiding somewhere?

I see what you mean about the calibrators for the laptops and issues with that. Maybe I'll just look into getting a separate monitor.

[ColleenSwerb]

It's one of the advanced edits, I think. I forgot where it is, I haven't dealt with Shutterfly in ages (I haven't printed anything digi outside of my home in a million years). I'm sure someone can pop in and tell you where it is.

It's a function that you have to turn off on EVERY SINGLE PAGE of every project you do with Shutterfly, last I checked. So your monitor may not be your biggest problem, if you didn't turn that off.

[joelsgirl]

Wait. There has to be a better option than buying a monitor to plug into a laptop! I calibrated my monitor with my new Macbook because the colors were KILLING ME, but I haven't printed anything that I've made with it yet. I will die if they are all oversaturated the way they look when I save for web.

I found this information in another thread regarding vivid pics:
When you upload your photos, go into the edit mode and turn vivid off on that one and then select something like "apply effect for all photos" and then it should do it for all of them. Then add them to the book. That is what I've done the last time and they all turned out good.

And this too:
For some reason I kept having issues when I tried to do it this way. I found that you can also do it while adding the pages to the book. After you drag the LO to its desired page, you can then click on the page and an "edit picture" box should pop up. Click on the effects tab and check the box that says "Don't apply automatic corrections to picture"

[rach3975]

No need for another monitor! I use a spyder 2 express on my laptop, and it has made a huge difference in my printing. I got it used on ebay for about $50. After months of struggling with the laptop closing issue Colleen mentioned, I finally found an explanation and free solution. I'll hook you up in a bit-I haven't moved my bookmarks over to this computer yet.

[ColleenSwerb]

If you never close your laptop, then you're fine, LOL! Otherwise, it'll be off. Probably not a TON, unless you're putting hte screen at crazy different angles, but it'll still be off. Unless you make yourself a cardboard template and position the laptop screen the exact same way, every time. (Like a cardboard piece of pie, or triangle, that would line up your keyboard and the angle of your screen.)

If my husband EVER decides to do anything other than play video games this spring, I will hopefully be getting him to build me a small shelf/hutch for my desk. He won a monitor at a tech conference last year and was going to give it to me to use, but my desk isn't big enough to use it AND have the laptop on the desk AND the wireless keyboard so that the laptop isn't open. Space fail. The reality is probably that I will have to man up and learn to use he circular saw myself, and build it myself. LOL!

[ColleenSwerb]

Originally Posted by rach3975

I use a spyder 2 express on my laptop, and it has made a huge difference in my printing. I got it used on ebay for about $50. After months of struggling with the laptop closing issue Colleen mentioned, I finally found an explanation and free solution. I'll hook you up in a bit-I haven't moved my bookmarks over to this computer yet.

I am intrigued and totally excited for this info!

[rach3975]

After reading your follow up post, I'm not sure we're talking about the same problem, Colleen. My problem was that any time the computer hibernated, the color profile was lost and wouldn't come back without a restart. The screen angle doesn't matter to me--I guess I keep it close enough to the same angle all the time that I haven't seen any perceptible difference. (Of course I do when I push it a lot one way or the other, but not at any of my usual working angles.) But calibrated or uncalibrated makes an enormous difference on my HP laptop.

Here's the workaround for anyone having the problem I did, that the computer drops the calibrated profile when it hibernates.

http://www.slagermanphoto.com/blog/2...or-management/

I had to use that workaround on my Vista computer. (There's also a link there to an updated workaround for Windows 7 and Vista, but it didn't work on my computer.) I'm installing the spyder on my new computer tonight, so I guess I'll find out after that if the Windows 7 workaround is as reliable as the Vista one.

[crecia27]

Thanks for the tips! I didn't realize how off my screen was until I was at a crop and saw this website on her screen - I hardly recognized it!

[ColleenSwerb]

I really need a calibrator. I'm saving up for one, but checking ebay is an awesome idea. Def didn't think of that.

[sprauncey1]

I use the EyeOneDisplay2 calibrator for my laptop. It works great, and you can set it to remind you to recalibrate for a certain amount of time. I have mine set for every 2 weeks but really it turns out to be once a month. It doesn't seem to change all that much in that much time. Also re: Colleen's concerns, it depends on the monitor of the laptop. If it is a cheapie, or maybe just a finicky one, then yes the angle has to be perfect, but some more high end ones are just fine at a range of angles.

Here is another article about Windows 7 and Vista losing its calibration when it sleeps (or sometimes screensaver). It was written by the color management guru at ClickinMoms and now that I know about it, it just takes three clicks to fix. http://www.damiensymonds.com.au/art_vista.html

But regarding the OP question: yep those darn Vivid Pics!! Who wants them anyway is my question?

[AmyM]

There's no downside to a calibrated monitor, so do that. But my guess is that the main problem is Shutterfly. Even with pro labs you can have prints look warmer, cooler, difference in contrast, etc... at each one. Last Spring I ordered the same photo in 8x10 (yes, I'm calibrated, photographers have no choice) from 7 different labs and every single one looked different- no joke.

I have narrowed it down to 3 labs that match my monitor perfectly for clients and won't use anyone else. Simply Canvas, H&H, Color Inc. But can't afford to print photo books for myself from them so I still go to shutterfly.

I'm using windows 7 with 64-bit. It does take about 5 minutes for the calibration to show after start-up. Not a huge deal to me.