Howto: Calibrate Your Printer

I have calibrated some of the measuring instruments I own but have never heard of calibrating a printer. I came across a blog post by Alpha Murgev who I assume is a photographer. She recommends that the monitor and printer be calibrated before photos are printed using a photo printer at home. I remember having a conversation with a friend who is an amateur photographer. He told me that he doesn’t like to print photos at home as the colours obtained on paper are far from what is captured. He prefers to have them printed at a local studio. This is one post that I definitely would like to share with him and all our readers on Cartridge Save The News in Print blog.

Alpha recommends calibrating the monitor before heading for the printer. After all, we see before we print.

The printer calibration involves printing a blank page on a blank piece of photo paper. If the printer isn’t calibrated properly, a few colours should be visible on the print-out. If the colours are visible, the colours can be adjusted by trial-and-error method until the slate is blank. If no colours are observed on your printer when you print the blank page, your printer is calibrated and good to go.

Alpha also provides the opposite colours for each colour which is extremely helpful for all photo and graphic enthusiasts. By adding amounts of opposite colour, the intensity of original colour reduces. I could probably use this tip on some of the images I mess with. Here it is for reference:

For reference, the colour wheel goes:

- Red is at one end of the scale, and Cyan is its opposite;
- Green is at one end of the scale, and Magenta is its opposite; and
- Blue is at one end of the scale, and Yellow is its opposite.

So, if you want to lessen a blue colour cast, add more yellow.

Tagged as: Software