Does anyone use the EyeOne Photo setup to create custom profiles for the Epson 2400, 3800, 4000, or 4800? I am curious about the quality of the results, the need for profiling (whether there is any improvement over canned profiles), and whether the EyeOne setup is as good as services available on the web?
I just don't see many posts about people working with their own print profiling systems.
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I currently use the EyeOne Photo package for my R2400 and 7800. There are small, but in my mind significant, differences between standard profiles and the ones you make yourself. For paper from third party vendors the difference can be even more significant. However, you have to be ready to invest a lot of time in learning/testing.
My main complaint about the EyeOne Photo package is the lack of averaging - reading the charts 2-4 times and averaging the measured values to get better data. I do this for "complicated papers" (often matte fine art papers) using Excel before I continue in the EyeOne software, and it works fine - just obviously not the most efficient workflow. I use averaging when I see banding in gradations from my test prints, and that usually solves it.
The other complaint is that I think (others might help filling in here since I'm also curious) that the maximum EyeOne Photo test chart containing 918 patches is not enough for all papers to make smooth transitions mainly in deep&rich shadows. Again, this concerns mainly matte fine art papers. Glossy ones are quite easy to profile. I've run into this problem in another recent thread (regarding profiling for ImagePrint) where I got help to solve one error (my software settings) but still can't get an enough smooth profile for a specific paper, using the EyeOne Photo package. I think I need larger test charts (more patches) to make an even smoother transition. And for that I need another software.
The alternative is the ProfileMaker 5 Photostudio Pro (from Gretag/X-rite, but there are of course other software) but it's an expensive option. It has averaging, larger test charts and more.
(Note: In Sweden there is a 50% discount if you order the PM5-package at the latest tomorrow (december 13). Last year in december the same discount were offered and it then seemed to be an international campaign. Maybe the same this year and something to investigare before you buy? I will upgrade to PM5 and see where that leads me.)
Cheers,
Petter