UPDATED feb. 28 see ColorSampler below
As promised, here is my report:
Cost: ColorMunki 5''$, Delivery fees 47$, Taxes and custom fees upon receipt 15'$! Total: 847$CAN
I received it on february 5th.
Why I was so quiet since then? Because it started as a nightmare and didn't want to give X-Rite bad press knowing they have good support. So I wanted to sort things with them beforehand.
First, it was a deception for me that it can not calibrate CRTs. Even if on their web site, I saw a page telling "...choose LCD or CRT". They should have now corrected this mistake. But I still have my old Monaco colorimeter which can calibrate CRTs but not LCDs... It is just that I wanted to sell my old device to retrieve some $.
This fact admitted, I went to the Printer/Paper calibration. I loose a few sheets of expensive paper and much ink just to find a way to print the complete charts. So I switched to ordinary paper to save some money and ink. Even X-Rite's suggestions didn't help after a week of emailing forth and back. I told them I was able to print as I want from any application but at first, I didn't notice that it was before the ColorMunki. It is when I had to make a print as usual in Lightroom that i discovered that the inking of the paper stopped exactly after 164mm. Measuring the couple of dozen of test charts I tried to do from the ColorMunki software, guess what? They were all blank after 164mm from top of page!!!
It was then clear to me that the problem was in no way X-Rite's responsibility. As you know, rebooting is solving many problems. But even doing so didn't improve my results. Cold boot you think? Nah! Nothing! Same. :frown:
I then remembered this undocumented trick I learned in my 22 years of LAN administration/machine trouble shooting: Some five years ago, after receiving a new computer for the drawing department, the machine started to cycle rebooting endlessly. The supplier then took it back to his laboratory for a couple days and never found the tiniest trouble. Wondering what was the difference, we concluded that as I kept the power cord plugged to the wall and that he used his own to test, and as that should not make any difference as the machine was powered from both, the difference was that the machine was disconected from ground while in transit! :right: REMEMBER THIS as you never know when it will be usefull to you! :left:
So, I powered off my MacPro, powered off the printer and removed the power cords from the outlets to disconect ground for a while... Pluged back, powered on, boot, BINGO! :cheesy: Perfect color test charts with ColorMunki software. I then wrote back to X-Rite to report with some
shame on me lines and suggest to add my tip to their debug page(s).
Now for the report on the working ColorMunki:
Packaging is designed in such a way that no finger prints will be sent to you! After removing the anti finger prints silk paper, you see a glossy 3" x 6" x 11" box. The top is black with an image of the device and the ColorMunki logo. One end is slime green and the other Royal Blue. One side Olive green (back) and the other Sky Blue (front). Bottom is Aqua Blue with description in Italian, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese in this order. English version is on the Sky Blue front. This front is a lid held in place by two 1/2" velcro circles. It doesn't give you access to your ColorMunki but is rather intended for commerce shelving revealing the ColorMunki through a clear plastic window. You have to open by breaking a transparent seal at one end of the box.
Anyone not knowing what it is would think it is a measuring tape. And a big one! Imagine a 1" wide tape 5''-'" long. It is 4" long, 3.5" tall and 2" thick. The manual is short, simple and well done. Each illustration is used once with mutlilingual sentences on the opposite pages. It is the same size as the CD envelope covering it when you open. Underneath those are the USB cable and the counterweight strap. The strap is tied to the end of the ColorMunki's carrying case zipper. The carrying case is only used to carry or hold the device in front of the monitor for calibration. You remove the case for all other operations except for self calibration which can be made with or without.
Monitor calibration: I was surprized to see that the software was sending full screen color patches as the ColorMunki can read patches as small as a quarter inches or so. But this make sense when you think about calibrating projectors. In this later case, you will read the projected screen away at a distance of around one and a half its height. You first make choice to calibrate an LCD or a laptop. They should be nitty picky on this as I do not see exactly why. Then there are the simple and the advanced mode. The latter let you set white point, measure ambient light and so on... Up to here it is similar to other similar devices. The software's interface is very nicely done! At anytime, it knows the dial rotation of the ColorMunki and suggest you to change it when needed illustrating the wanted position with an arrow going from the actual position to the desired one. You are always taken by hand and can't miss an option.
Paper/Printer profiling: Same kind of interface. In any module, each use of the ColorMunki start by asking for a self calibration. You then place it
(rotate the spectroscope) in a position where it reads a self contained white patch of some sort. Choose a printer and a name for your profile then print a 5' color patches on a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. Clicking next once printed suggest you a 1' minutes countdown that you can skip if you printed the day before for example. It then ask you to read the patches row by row reporting on the success or failure after reading each strip. Click Next and it start analyzing the readings to dynamically generate another set of 5' patches to be printed. Same process again and once it refined the first reading with the second, it is ready to write the profile suggesting the printer name plus the profile name you gave it first. Done! It is said that you can input a given image to be printed to further refine the profile but I didn't trie this option yet.
My tests of the Paper/Printer profiles: I first tried in Lightroom with an image containing much extremely dark details and to my surprise, they were all very well distinguishable on the print! Nice I said so now time for that 5 stars shot of falls colors I took in 2''4. The gamut was so wide that I never tried it before convinced that I was about to loose to many on test prints. I gave it a go on the now profiled glossy I had on hand and was very impressed at the results. It was almost more impressive than on the monitor! OK then. Lets compare with the Archival Matte then... WOW! Side by side, the glossy and the matte papers look the very same apart from their texture.
I am totally satisfied; Simple to use and perfect results first time. No more test prints!
There is more to it!
The Color Sampler: Both fun and useful this applcation let you scan the color of any objects. You place your scanned colors in custom palettes that you can name. It also suggest complementary colors based on opposites, complements or similarity. It comes with the Munsell color system and also with the Pantone system telling you the closest match in these systems.
Real life uses I have for it: Want to frame an image with a border or matte color that will perfectly fit on you wall? Just scan the wall! Print your colors and go to the artist's supplier to choose you corresponding matte. Another one I had to do: I was asked to make Business Cards and Menus for a restaurant. I do not have an USB cable long enough to go there but have a laptop. He his very old and can not be calibrated
(no LUT). But as the ColorMunki is not dependent on the computer of calibration written in files - remember it is self calibrating before going in action, I can take readings from the paint on the walls, mouldings and anything related to the color sheme in the restaurant. Once in the palette, I can save that palette to a file. Back home, I can read this file on my desktop and design the cards and menus such as they will fit reflect perfectly the atmosphere of the restaurant.
UPDATE: You can also give an image to it and it will generate a color palette based on dominant colors. This can be nice to choose a matte's color or a website's color sheme where it appears.
Let your imagination go wild!... 8)
The digital Pouch: This part of the software is to send other people images in such a way that they will see you images as you intended. I have not tested/tried this part yet and will let you know in a future post here.
Nightmare part two: My old Monaco sensor is still working nice under Windows
(boot camp) but is not recognized under Mas OS X! Hence I am left with no monitor calibration. Time to report again to X-Rite then as they buyed Monaco a while ago...
Stay tuned
