LCD Color/settings calibration software?

[Andrew LB]

I need to get some software which i can use to calibrate my Dell 19" LCD so what i see on my screen is what prints up when i do photo editing. What do you guys use to calibrate your monitors? Anyone know what professionals use?

I'm getting into digital photography with a recent purchase of a Canon Digital Rebel XT and the what i see in photoshop is way brighter and the colors are off when i print the actual photograph.

[pissboy]

Higher end monitors can be ordered with a calibration tool that sticks onto the screen and lets the computer calibrate the monitor. Basically they're just a camera that picks up the colors off the screen and tells the computer what is being outputted, then the computer makes the required changes to ensure the colors are true. LCDs have never been the best at color reproduction, but they've become better with time.

There are some cheap ways to do color calibration, I'm sure with google you can find quite a few software based calibrations. I havent used any of the hardware ones.

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration.htm
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration_tools.htm