Computers and technology have become a very integrated part of photography for many of us. We can surf the web to view other photographers' work, display our own images and even set up our digital printing lab right in our own home. The down side to all of this is that each monitor, now matter the quality or age, will display an image differently.

The Monitor
Monitors have two settings that differ, one is the Color Temperature and the other is Gamma. We are all familiar with color temperature and how it affects the look of our slides. The same holds true for our monitors, the color temperature will affect the appearance of the image when viewed on the monitor. The second is Gamma, which is the transition of brightness. It is basically the different tonalities we see as we go from black to gray to white. You get a more in depth tutorial of this at the ColorVision site under "Why Calibrate a Monitor?" I was convinced my monitor needed to be calibrated. I received my ColorVision product which included both the Spyder with PhotoCAL and Profiler PLUS. The Spyder with PhotoCAL is designed for either CRT or LCD monitor calibration. Profiler PLUS, which we will talk about later, is for calibrating the printer.

My first step was to download the instructions from the ColorVision site and read them thoroughly. This took less than five minutes. I installed the software per the instructions. As always, it is important to read the "before you start" Section, before you begin. I disabled the antivirus program for the software installation and removed Abode Gamma from the startup program list. The software installation went smoothly and took only a couple of minutes. After the reboot, I plugged in the USB Spyder, which was recognized immediately as new hardware. Remember when plugging in the Spyder that it should plug directly into the computer USB port, not through a USB hub.

The PhotoCAL software walked me through the entire calibration. In about five minuets my monitor was calibrated and it looked very different. The most apparent difference was that I was able to view many more shades of grays on my monitor. What had previously appeared white, now took on different tones of gray. I checked to make certain that the whites were really still white by viewing images of egrets and herons on sites on the Net. The whites were certainly white and I had more color tones in the images I viewed on the Net. It was like viewing the them on a new monitor and it looked great!

The Printer/Scanner
One the main obstacles I have encountered in my digital lab is producing images from my printer that look the same as they did on my monitor. It has been a frustrating experience. My Epson software solved some of that, but it limited me. My goal was to print straight from Adobe and obtain acceptable results. When ever I attempted this my prints always had colors that were markedly different to the image viewed on screen. The prints were always lacking in color consistency from print to print. I downloaded and read the ProfilerPLUS manual. After reading the brief five page instructions I closed all my windows programs, including the Antivirus software, and began the less than five minute installation.

Once the installation was complete I configured Adobe Photoshop by setting the RGB working space to Adobe RGB 1998 per the instruction. Next was the actual profiling process. I launched Adobe, followed the directions, and then printed the calibration chart. I calibrated my flatbed scanner and had excellent results. Since all of my prints are produced from the Nikon 4000 and slides, and not the flatbed, I was concerned regarding the results since the data was going from an un-calibrated scanner to the printer. The Nikon 4000 was turned on, a scan done and imported into Adobe. Once I made the adjustments to the scanned image that I wanted, I went to print and selected the profile I had made from the directions that came with ProfilerPLUS. I was delighted to finally see a print that matched the image seen on my screen! It was without a doubt the most accurate color print I have produced with my system!

Overview
This product is one of the best I have ever reviewed. It is easy to use and install. The software allows the user to produce consistent results when viewing images or printing. While it is a bit pricey (the package tested was the Colorvision PhotoSuite PRO and priced at $499 USD), it will save time, ink and paper for those that want accurate prints from their scans.

In my opinion this product is a must have for those wanting to setup a digital printing lab, especially if you wish to produce prints for sale. I found proper calibration will save time and provide better results. You might want to consider adding this product to your Christmas list! Colorvision offers a wide variety of packages to fit most any budget so please check out their site and you may find just what you are looking for to calibrate your digital lab!

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Debbie is the Founder and Publisher of PhotoMigrations and would like to invite you to also visit her personal website located at Debbie Ferrell-Smith Nature Photography - you will be pleasantly surprised!