Calibration

 
System Colour Calibration
April, 2000
This article is now a couple of years old and has become dated, as there are several new generations of printers as well as calibration tools available.
I now have a new article online calledMonitor Profiling and Calibrationwhich you will find to be more current and comprehensive than this one, though some of the information below is still useful for beginners. You'll also find Ian Lyons'Computer Darkroomsite to be an excellent source of additional information on this topic.
For many years Mac owners had a serious advantage in their ability to calibrate their scanners, monitors and printers so that what-you-see-is-actually-what-you-get on your printer. Today, with Windows 98 and Photoshop 5 and later, mainstream computer users can have these same advantages.  
Background
Anyone who has done traditional colour printing know how tedious and frequently frustrating achieving colour balance can be. Test print, change filters, ... too l...