Yet another (better and easier) way to calibrate your monitor for free.

For most purposes the camera and editing and printer software all work together reasonably well and what you get out of the printer is a pretty decent version of what you saw through the camera or on the monitor. But if minor color and density shifts are a problem, and you want the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) thing to be a bit better, try using the method described here http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Gamma.htm to see if that helps. Use your monitor controls to set the brightness and contrast to the max, and your video card or monitor (if it has it) control to tweak the gamma, to get the darkest patch OK, and then the brightness and contrast controls on either to get the mid-tone and highlight patches OK.

Later, for printing, if you are going for full control, you will probably need to to turn the monitor brightness way down to get a good match or view the prints if full summer sun, since printing is inherently a way to diminish the the reflectivity of the paper.

(slightly edit phrasing)