Calibrating Intel 27" iMac with Spyder 4 Pro

Did you receive any answers to the appropriate settings for the Spyder to work correctly? I am also in the same position I would like to know exactly what specs to add in for the iMac and Macbook.

Thanks.

Me, too! I have the 27" iMac and am trying to use the Spyder 4 Pro. Been having difficulty getting true color on it. Any luck?

Add a fourth to the list of questioners re Spyder4Pro and the recent 27-inch iMac.

After downloading the updated driver from Datacolor when inserting the install disk prompted me to, I ran through the initial setup and first calibration. At the end of that sequence hitting "save" launched the spinning "something is happening" indicator -- which then went on for 15 minutes. When I finally realized nothing was happening, I found it impossible to cancel or stop the program. The computer locked so that it would not respond in any way, even to an attempt at restarting. I was about to pull the power plug when a third try at restarting following a multi-step "forced quit" finally killed the program.

I did find a Spyder4Pro profile in the list within the iMac display options -- but have no way of knowing if it is complete or accurate. Datacolor has no phone support available, only a bizarre email query system which requires establishing an account (in addition to having already registered the product) and then filing a lament which includes answering check-box menu items which don't apply.

I'd say establishing anything regarding true color with the Spyder4Pro and a recent iMac is ****** near impossible.

Followup: Datacolor's email support system did respond, and quickly. Instructions on getting past my initial problems were provided and appear to have worked.

I'm still plagued by a slight, red color cast which accompanies the Spyder4Pro profile as built by the full calibration routine on my late 2013 27-inch iMac. Even the black and gray surround and background areas in Lightroom and Photoshop show a shift toward red, away from neutral.

If anyone reading this has an answer to this new problem, I'd appreciate knowing about it.

I figured that I better respond to your post! Here is how things stand with me:

The Spyder4Pro WAS working correctly. I think that my 27" apple display gives a blue cast to things as purchased (which I like, BTW). However, I am a photographer and the difficulty that I have been having was uploading photos to a website or FB and having them be really green or otherwise off-color. My difficulty was that I was choosing the wrong color space with which to save the photographs. Any time you are uploading to a web site, the best color space to use is the sRGB. When you are printing, the best space to use is the Adobe RGB (1998). Does that make sense? Or are you just concerned with how it looks on your display?

If you are a photographer, we can talk about this more. But I can't remember right now what gamut I used in my Spyder4Pro calibration. But I did find that info and I can again if you have not determined what it is.

Make sure that you do use the most up-to-date Datacolor software as they are correcting issues with both Mac and Windows machines all of the time.

Thanks, Marsue...

I think the iMac native profile does emphasize blues and greens, plus a bit of added contrast overall. It gives images -- my own photos and those on websites -- a much more appealing look.

But, like most of those buying calibration gear, my interest is in getting better control over printing. The idea that I should be able to get a print which closely resembles the on-screen image is my only justification for the added expense. My concern for the apparent added color cast is that I'll correct for it, to make my photos look "normal", then find that I've skewed them totally away from the desired printed appearance. Time will tell; I'm still floundering around with this.

As to color space, yes, sRGB is the only way to go for images posted online. I usually make use of the "save for web" automated conversion in Photoshop to make a .jpg image specifically for that purpose. My camera's color space and that of Lightroom and Photoshop are both set at ProPhoto RGB, the native space for Lightroom.

If my comparisons show the canned ProPhoto profile in the iMac display menu -- or even the standard iMac profile -- works better than the Spyder4Pro, back it goes. By that time, however, I'll probably be color blind and it will no longer matter.

Michael Matthews

Just know that was when I was running in to difficulty - when I used ProPhoto. I do much better when I use the standard Adobe RGB (1998) when printing. For some reason, I get into difficulty when I print from ProPhoto although I have friends who swear by it.

Thanks again. I hadn't thought about ProPhoto RGB as a problem source -- since I've been printing from Lightroom of late and that's the native color space.

I'll give Adobe RGB a try if I run into problems after getting rid of the Spyder profile color cast. That, at least, I know is global within the iMac environment at this point. It rears its reddish ugly head even in what should be black.

Michael