printer profiles - DPChallenge Forums

05/18/2005 10:41:22 PM · #1

I'm wondering if anyone out there is using one of the programs by Monaco Systems, GretagMacbeth or ColorVision to produce printer profiles using the scanner method and NOT spectrophotometers. Do you like them, do you recommend them and do you find them accurate and easy to work with? I recently purchased the Monaco Optix XR to calibrate and profile my monitor. I had all intentions of purchasing the EZColor printer profiler that uses a flatbed scanner to make printer profiles, but the salesperson talked me out of it stating that they don't make any difference in the output. Would you agree with that? I think the he was wrong but I am wondering if anyone has any experiences with these and what you think.
Thanks very much.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/19/2005 11:42:18 AM · #2

bump

jemison

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

05/19/2005 12:04:32 PM · #3

I get custom profiles for my favorite paper/ink combos from Cathy's Profiles for $40 each. They are better than anything you can do yourself (unless you can invest $100K or so) and well worth the money, imo.

Sorry, but I haven't used any of the methods you mention.

sabphoto

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

05/19/2005 12:11:45 PM · #4

Originally posted by jemison:

I'd be interested to know how this works, I went to the link but didn't find much. Do you send in your printers printout or what? That wouldn't seem very fast.

When we had to calibrate our printers at my other job it printed out a patch page then we fed it into a reader and it adjusted the computer to that so that the colors were right. You could really tell the dif if someone hadn't calibrated it after running a boat load of stuff. Just curious.

jemison

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/19/2005 12:41:52 PM · #5

Originally posted by sabphoto:

Originally posted by jemison:
I get custom profiles for my favorite paper/ink combos from Cathy's Profiles for $40 each. They are better than anything you can do yourself (unless you can invest $100K or so) and well worth the money, imo.

Sorry, but I haven't used any of the methods you mention.

I'd be interested to know how this works, I went to the link but didn't find much. Do you send in your printers printout or what? That wouldn't seem very fast.

When we had to calibrate our printers at my other job it printed out a patch page then we fed it into a reader and it adjusted the computer to that so that the colors were right. You could really tell the dif if someone hadn't calibrated it after running a boat load of stuff. Just curious.

When you decide that you want a profile made, you follow the instructions on the site. Basically, you download a file which you print out - following the instructions carefully - on the paper/ink/printer combo you want. Then you send her the printout(s) and she makes the profile(s), which she emails to you. The entire process took me 3 days total, and I am really thrilled with the results. I will do the same in the future.

Instructions for installing and using the profile are included with the profile for both Photoshop and QImage. I use QImage for all my printing needs. If you haven't tried it, I would recommend it to everyone. It is really fantastic, and makes my printing process a snap. It's upsampling algorithm is quite superior to PhotoShop bicubic, imo, and it makes printing different sizes on a page a breeze. Free updates forever, and they come out very often. Great support. Best bang for the buck around, imo.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/19/2005 12:47:45 PM · #6

I thank you for the input regarding Cathy's Profiles, it's certainly something to consider. The price does seem a bit steep, though, in that after 4 profiles produced by Cathy, I would have my Monaco EZColor profiler paid for.

jemison

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

05/19/2005 03:32:27 PM · #7

Originally posted by Olyuzi:

Not trying to sell anything, but have you considered whether it is important to you to have the accuracy of a hardware (photospectrometer) based system that is calibrated on a regular basis? a software based profiler is just not as accurate.