Printer Calibration?

[vienna01]

I have a new Canon inkjet. I would like to "calibrate" my monitor so that what I see is what prints out.
I THINK I can get ICC files for the ink & paper I use.[ refill refillable cartridges]. My monitor is a Korean off brand called AURIA. Great monitor but no 3rd party add-ons or technical info available for it.

Most of the sources are photographs taken with Apple iPhone 5s or 6.

Are there procedures[Suitable for a total beginner] that do not require a hardware detector that will get me reasonably close to the goal of: monitor showing the colors the printer will print? I recognize the monitor will be more brilliant.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Both the monitor and the printer are output devices, they don't know of each other, and one does not depend on the other. Both need to be calibrated, and there is basically no way around some measurements with an instrument. There are packages available like ColorMunki or Spyder by Datacolor, profiling of printers works similar, and all that activity together is called color management.

 

[palombian]

When you use papers who publish profiles for your printer, you can indeed use these, good quality refill inks are not far off.
After saving on ink the paper is your largest cost, you soon will search for off-brand papers (there are good ones for much less, probably even from the same production line as famous brands based on the profiles).

Since you anyway have to buy a device to calibrate your monitor, you better start with one that can do your printer too.
ColorMunki Photo has a good price/performance ratio. Costs some money (I searched a full year to find one second hand), but less than an Iphone 6.

 

[Smile]

I suggest you could search locally who can calibrate your monitor properly, that will be cheaper than to buy the hardware sensor. And Datacolor Spyder is a toy, different results each time you use it. I do not recommend it.

Either way the proper workflow is:

1.Calibration - Get your hardware to optimal state
2.Profiling - Print targets, Measure, Generate profiles
3.Certification - Print targets, Measure, confirm that your profiles work as expected and you are within tolerances of the standard you were aiming for. This also allows you to select proper specialist for the job as only the ones who can perform certification should be considered. After all you want to know where the money went right.

 

[Hector Vilches]

I have had great results with the colormunki, and to me, the cost for the freedom to use any paper/ink combo (reasonably) is worth it.