Datacolor Spyder Print Review: Professional Printer Calibration Demystified
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For photographers, digital artists, and printmakers, there is no greater frustration than editing an image to absolute perfection on screen, only to have it emerge from the printer looking dull, overly saturated, or plagued by a strange color cast.
While monitor calibration is the first crucial step in color management, it only solves half of the equation. To achieve a true screen-to-print match, you must calibrate your printer, ink, and paper combination.
This is where the Datacolor Spyder Print comes into play. As a dedicated spectrocolorimeter, this device is engineered to create custom ICC profiles that tell your printer exactly how to render colors on any specific paper.
What is the Datacolor Spyder Print?
The Datacolor Spyder Print is a hardware-and-software color management system designed to eliminate the guesswork from the printing process. Instead of relying on generic "canned" profiles provided by paper manufacturers, this tool allows you to measure how your specific printer deposits ink on your chosen media.
THE COLOR MANAGEMENT WORKFLOW
[ Spyder Cube ] ---> [ Monitor Calibrator ] ---> [ Spyder Print ]
Set white balance Ensures accurate on- Creates custom ICC
& exposure screen colors printer profiles
What is Included in the Box?
Spyder Print Spectrocolorimeter and base dock.
SpyderGuide (a plastic alignment ruler for measuring printed color patches).
6-foot USB cable.
Software download instruction card (or installation CD).
How It Works: Step-by-Step Profiling
Creating a custom profile with the Spyder Print is a highly structured, tactile process that bridges physical media and digital accuracy.
1. Printing the Target Sheet
First, you open the Spyder Print software and choose a target sheet. These sheets contain a grid of colored and grayscale patches.
Depending on how precise you want your profile to be, you can choose from a high-speed target (usually 225 patches) up to an extended profile (up to 729 or even 918 patches). You print this target using the exact paper and printer settings you intend to use in your final workflow, disabling all automatic color corrections.
2. Letting the Prints Dry
This is a critical, often overlooked step: you must let the test prints dry for at least 30 minutes (preferably several hours for pigment-based inks) before scanning. Wet ink changes color as it cures, and scanning too early will result in an inaccurate profile.
3. Reading the Patches with SpyderGuide
Once dry, you align the printed sheets under the SpyderGuide. You slide the spectrocolorimeter smoothly across each row of patches. The device reads the physical color of the ink and transmits the data back to the software, comparing what the printer produced to what the computer expected.
Key Features That Make a Difference
The Spyder Print is packed with advanced data analysis features that cater directly to high-end professionals:
Advanced Gray Balancing (Absolute Grays)
Monochrome printing is notoriously difficult because even a tiny color shift will ruin a black-and-white image. The Absolute Grays control allows you to add extra precision gray data to your profiles. This ensures smoother tonal transitions, cleaner highlights, and neutral, color-cast-free black-and-white prints.
PreciseLight™ Adjustments
Prints are rarely viewed in perfect museum lighting. The PreciseLight™ feature in the software allows you to adjust your profile to compensate for the environment where the print will be displayed. If a print is going into a dim gallery or under overly warm lighting, you can pre-adjust the profile’s brightness and color temperature to compensate.
Soft Proofing (SpyderProof™)
The built-in SpyderProof™ utility provides a set of high-resolution diagnostic images. You can toggle between "before" and "after" to evaluate skin tones, shadow detail, and gradients to verify your new profile's accuracy before using your actual image files.
Pros & Cons
What We Like:
Complete Control: Allows you to use third-party, budget, or exotic art papers and still achieve perfect, predictable color.
No Ongoing Fees: Once you buy the hardware, you can make an unlimited number of profiles for different ink, paper, and printer combinations.
Intuitive Software: Step-by-step wizard guides you effortlessly through the layout and scanning process.
Excellent Black and White Performance: The extended gray target produces outstanding, neutral monochrome results.
What Could Be Improved:
Learning Curve for Scanning: Sliding the device smoothly along the SpyderGuide takes a bit of manual practice to avoid read errors.
Time-Consuming: High-patch targets can take 10 to 15 minutes of manual scanning per page.
Final Verdict: Is It Worth It?
If you only print occasionally on standard, manufacturer-branded papers using official inks, you might get away with the manufacturer's default ICC profiles.
However, if you are a professional photographer, fine art printer, or graphic designer who prints on diverse media (such as canvas, matte fine art paper, or third-party stocks), the Datacolor Spyder Print is an invaluable tool. It rapidly pays for itself by saving expensive ink, fine art paper, and hours of frustrating test-printing.
For a visual guide on how the Spyder Print fits into a complete, color-managed photography and print workflow, you can watch this
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