Printing out images can sometimes produce different colors and tones than you might expect. Here are a few ways to make sure your screen and printer are properly calibrated.
- DON'T USE STANDARD PRINTER/COPY PAPER!
- Get a Professional Graphic Design Monitor; Even One Pre-Calibrated:
ViewSonic Professional 27 Inch 4K Monitor with 100% sRGB Rec709 14-bit 3D LUT Color Calibration for Photography and Graphic Design- Calibrate Your Monitor Colors - Windows 10:
- Click Search or Cortana in the lower-left corner of your display.
- Type "Calibrate Display Color".
- Select "Calibrate Display Color" from the flyout menu to open "Display Color Calibration"
- If your system has more than one monitor, move the "Display Color Calibration" application window to the display that you want to calibrate and then click Next.
- Follow the instructions as they walk you through calibrating your monitor.
- Display Color Management - Windows 10:
It's important that you make sure that both your monitor and your printer are using the proper ICC profile. You can see and change these profiles from the "Windows Color Management" dialog box.
To get there, follow these steps:
- Click the "Windows Search" or "Cortana" icon in the lower-left corner of your screen.
- Type "Color Management".
- Click the Device drop-down menu.
- Choose your monitor from the list.
Note that if you did not install the drivers that came with your monitor, Windows may recognize and install its own profile for your display. Some inexpensive displays may not come with ICC profiles, and in turn, draw their calibration info from one of Windows' several generic profiles. And remember that, as mentioned, a good number of monitors come calibrated for office settings; the monitor may require some additional tweaking to get colors to match more closely to what comes out of your printer.
- Printer ICC Profile for Paper Being Used:
As for your printer's ICC profile, nowadays, nearly all printers come with them, which programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign load and read as soon as you select the device from the printer list in the application's Print Settings (or equivalent) dialog box. You can also pick up ICC profiles from the hardware manufacturer's website or by contacting the company directly. When you have the profile in hand, you can install it in Windows in two steps:
- Right-click on the ICC profile file (it has a .icc file extension)
- Click "Install profile"
ICC Profiles and Monitor Settings Database- Hardware Color Profiler/Calibration Tool:
Monitor calibration kits and/or monitor-printer calibration kits, have been around for some time now and many of them work quite well. They range in cost from just less than $100 to more than $500. These devices can be your go-to for the entire process of calibration, or in addition to the steps listed previously.
Datacolor SpyderX Pro – Monitor Calibration Designed for Serious Photographers and DesignersHopefully, with all these steps complete, you should find that your prints are much closer to those on your screen.
