Calibration for Mac

[jez-m]

Hi all

Looking for some help/guidance. I have a new 24" iMac. The screen is glossy and photos look brilliant on it. However, prints (whether done at home or via Photobox) are dull and dark, so it's led me to believe I need to calibrate the colours to get things more in line.

Has anyone used a calibration device on one of these glossy lcd screens? If so, any advice or recommendations? A Google search suggests the Spyder 3 is my best bet, but any real world views would be welcome.

Cheers
Jez

[jez-m]

ETA - have now found pretty favourable reviews of the Pantone Huey... again, any views? Pros/cons vs the other systems. Price seems fair. Thanks.

[andy-xr]

Somewhere in the photography resources stickies there's a brightness/contrast strip, I think page 3. If you can get that looking half decent I think it'd solve most of your problems

[jez-m]

Thanks Andy. Will take a look at that.

[bramley]

I recently got an iMac too - amazed at how nice the images look on it. Have you used the built-in calibration?

[Olivero]

There is really no such thing as built in calabration, no matter what Apple tell you.
The industry standard (budget device) is the Eye-One http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JLO31M
There are reviews all over the web but it does work well with a Mac and a shiny screen. If you need to calabrate your printer then you will need to go for a higher model.

[...Mole...]

Been meaning to calibrate my monitors properly for a long time, does anyone know of any companies that you can rent the Eye One from or something similar?