Is this the answer for fast, painless printer calibration?

Printer calibration not only solves the problem of colors looking different on your prints than they do on your screen, it also opens up a nearly unlimited range of paper types, vs. the often limited selections supported by printer manufacturers.

Fast and painless aren’t terms you’d normally associate with printer calibration, but LaserSoft Imaging has just announced a solution that could do just that.

It’s a new printer calibration service that works hand-in-hand with Lasersoft’s SilverFast scanning technology to make sure your final prints are spot on every time.

First and foremost, you need to own a supported scanner and SilverFast 8 AI Studio, Lasersoft’s $299 scanning software package. The printer calibration software add-on is $99, or you can buy SilverFast and the calibration package together for $398.

It’s not cheap, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better scanning software than SilverFast; if you have a photo scanner, it’s a program you’re going to want to own anyway. (SilverFast SE is bundled with a lot of scanners, the upgrade prices are less than the full purchase price.)

If you already have the required components or intend to pick them up, you’re on your way to getting your printer profiled. Rather than laboriously scanning hundreds of color swatches manually with a spectrophotometer or colorimeter and matching them one by one, SilverFast printer calibration scans test prints with more than a thousand swatches and generates an ICC profile specifically for your printer in just minutes.

You can also tweak the profiles manually, to match your visual sense of what’s neutral, or to deliberately create warm- or cool-toned looks.

Many people opt for sending images off to the labs to be printed, but if you make or sell your own prints, Lasersoft’s printer calibration is a no-brainer. Not only will it simplify the calibration process, but it will ensure your prints come out perfect each and every time.

You can find out more information and purchase the calibration components alone or as a package on Lasersoft Imaging's website.