Has anyone who dabbles in photography ever used one of those monitor calibration devices? I've found one by the brand name of Spyder that I'm considering. It's the cheaper Spyder2. I'm not going to shell out the money for a Syder3. Several times I've adjusted a picture to what I thought was a good look and then when I upload the prints and have them made, it doesn't look as good as it did on screen.

I've never used one, but I think the deal is more of the color accuracy of your monitor, and then that to your printer.

I believe there are Color Management profile files on your computer that they both (Printer properties and monitor properties) can reference. Maybe referencing the same one?

In your example, your monitor may be correct, but the printer of the company you uploaded to may be calibrated different, or using another color profile than your local machine.

Maybe the spyder creates a custom profile file that both the monitor and printer can reference, I don't know.

I *believe* this is how it works. A simple Google or wikipedia may clarify.

Once I had my CRT HDTV calibrated and he used a similar professional gadget, to adjust the shades of grey. (all colors are a shade of grey...)

I've thought about using one, probably would if I had a decent printer and made many prints. Go to any of the dpreview.com forums and just do a search for monitor calibration (or specifically Spyder2), you will get more info than you can sort through.

Try this thread.