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I actually use a GretaMacbeth ColorChecker 24 to be able to produce .dng and have a good color checking.

Now it is time to reach a better result, taking in to account a better calibration of the hardware involved in the entire workflow, from the camera to the printer, through the displays.

Of course there is a huge number of devices promising excellent performances, GretaMacbeth produces such devices too, but it is hard to choose the best without experience... they are quite expensive too, so the choice must be evaluated carefully :)

Any suggestion is appreciated, especially when supported by real life experiences.

drAlberT
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  • Since this still has not gotten any useful answers, could I ask you to clarify it more? You mentioned color calibration of every device in your workflow, but then stated in a comment to my first answer that you were more interested in color checking than calibration. What exactly are you looking for? Do you need to calibrate every device and verify color accuracy of the entire workflow from every device? – jrista Aug 27 '10 at 21:49
  • I simply want tobe sure that the scene I have in the output device is as far as possible the same I was looking at when making the shots .. so simple, so easy :) ICC profiles is a part of the job, as color checking is, white balancing and so on ... I'm simply asking for suggestions about "true-scene-reproduction" techniques, hardware and tools involved. – drAlberT Aug 30 '10 at 14:21

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The devices really mostly differ in the bundled software. And the only device you'll need is one that makes color profiles of your display.

For your printer, it's suffice to use a by-mail service where you print out a test sheet and mail it to them, and they'll scan it and mail the profile back to you.

While I have not used their service nor endorse them in any way, this company seems to provide such a service.

Dave Van den Eynde
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  • I need to complete the entire color management workflow, from shooting a target to printing on a professional printer. Creating displays ICC profiles is a part of the job, ICC profiles of the printers with different setting and paper types really matters. There are colorimeters and spectrometers for example, the latter being a much more complete device ... what is the best choice is the dilemma :) – drAlberT Aug 18 '10 at 17:40
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As I am not 100% certain what you are asking, the best I can offer is a complete system for calibration. Its the system used by many of the high-end hardware testing labs that test printers, monitors, etc. for proper calibration. Its called X-Rite, and is designed to support complete workflow calibration. I've never used it myself, although plenty of the hardware reviews for screens and printers that I read use it. Seems to do pretty much everything, from calibration to color checking and a hell of a lot more. You can get any kind of statistic you could imagine from it.

There are a range of package options with the X-Rite, ranging from the "low end" at $1500 to the high end at $4800. The low end options are called the i1XTreme, and the high end ones (the stuff used by hardware testing labs and the like) are called PM5. Both lines can apparently do "camera calibration" by creating "camera profiles". Not exactly sure what that means, but there ya go:

The PM5 series supports using color checking cards, as well as profiling devices for both printers and screens, from a variety of the top brands, such as GretagMacbeth.

jrista
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