08.31
A while back I discovered that it’s actually possible to work color managed using Linux and open source software. UFRaw and The GIMP both fully support ICC profiles using LCMS, and work is being done on F-Spot as well.
As I’ve discussed earlier ArgyllCMS can work with a colorimeter to produce a display profile for your monitor. ArgyllCMS support several colorimeters, however only a few are affordable. The two prime candidates being X-Rite’s Huey and the Spyder 2 Express. Given the fact that the Spyder 2 Express requires firmware to be ripped from the Windows drivers, I quickly decided to spend an extra ten bucks and go for the Huey.
Sadly the first Huey I received turned out to be broken. It produced banana yellow skin tones when enabling the profile generated by it. At first I though it might have been an issue with Argyll, until I actually tried the Windows software which produced the same horrid colors. I returned the Huey to fotokonijnenberg and they quickly replaced it with no fuss. The new Huey seems to work perfectly. I still have to order some reference prints, for comparison. But sofar everything looks dandy. One of the obvious differences with the profile is the brightening of the darker grey tones, without bleaching out true black.
Currently I’m looking for a new printer, but when that’s done, I intend to have my new printer and paper profiled by Q-color (which is a local photo lab, they offer profiling services as well). As print colorimeters are rather expensive.
