Updating my calibration and profile building tools - guidance appreciated.

[Lust4Life]

I've been absent from the printing scene for the last 3 years and I'm now getting back up to speed.

Given:
I shoot landscape, mostly B&W, and have the Epson Stylus Pro 4800 printer; shoot or have shot 4x5 with P-45, H3DII-39, Canon 5DMkII.
Have the X-Rite Pulse Color Elite software and ColorBurst 6.1.8 RIP.
Print to Museo Silver Rag with my custom profiles.
Running MacPro with OS 10.6.7 and dual monitor configuration.

Now, X-Rite choose to obsolete the Pulse by not supporting with current version of OS, thus I must replace it.

I'm interested in calibration of dual monitor setup and creating my own printer profiles, as I did with the Pulse software.
Do not want to spend any more on new hardware/software than necessary.

Would appreciate a quick update as to what replacement for the Pulse tool set is the best at this point in time.

Thanks in advance,
Jack
http://www.shadowsdancing.com

[eronald]

Replacement would be i1Profiler with an eyeOne spectro and yes it is - pricey. But then so was Pulse in its day.
Have you considered freezing the whole setup as it is working now? This might make sense for a production seat.

Edmund

I've been absent from the printing scene for the last 3 years and I'm now getting back up to speed.

Given:
I shoot landscape, mostly B&W, and have the Epson Stylus Pro 4800 printer; shoot or have shot 4x5 with P-45, H3DII-39, Canon 5DMkII.
Have the X-Rite Pulse Color Elite software and ColorBurst 6.1.8 RIP.
Print to Museo Silver Rag with my custom profiles.
Running MacPro with OS 10.6.7 and dual monitor configuration.

Now, X-Rite choose to obsolete the Pulse by not supporting with current version of OS, thus I must replace it.

I'm interested in calibration of dual monitor setup and creating my own printer profiles, as I did with the Pulse software.
Do not want to spend any more on new hardware/software than necessary.

Would appreciate a quick update as to what replacement for the Pulse tool set is the best at this point in time.

Thanks in advance,
Jack
http://www.shadowsdancing.com

[Lust4Life]

Hmmmm ..... in looking at the difference between the Color Munki and the iPhoto Pro, I'm having a difficult time seeing the justification for the price difference between to two.

Am I missing something?

Also, does X-Rite now own this sector of the photography market?
Jack

[Mark D Segal]

Have you actually tried using the Pulse with OSX 10.6,7? I have the same system and it works.

I fear that once Lion is introduced it may not work with that OS up-grade - if the Pulse system depends on Rosetta, which won't be included with Lion.

[Lust4Life]

Yes I have.  The software seems to work but the puck to calibrate the monitor fails to be seen.

Agree with reservations on Lion.  I found it to be totally frustrating when I call X-Rite about the expensive Pulse not working with Snow Leopard and was advised that they would not support that OS.  Beautiful - forced customer product upgrade.

Add that to other issues with X-Rite and I was hoping to learn from this post that another company has developed a competitive product that is as good or better than the Munki or the "i" products.

[Czornyj]

I wouldn't consider a whole new solution just because the instrument support for new OS is not available in X-Rite software. I'd change the software instead - there's free Argyll CMS, there are commercial basICColor solutions...

[artobest]

Datacolor's Spyder3 Studio is a cost-effective one-box solution - in particular, the Spyder3 Print makes very respectable B&W-specific printer profiles.

[Mark D Segal]

Yes I have.  The software seems to work but the puck to calibrate the monitor fails to be seen.

Agree with reservations on Lion.  I found it to be totally frustrating when I call X-Rite about the expensive Pulse not working with Snow Leopard and was advised that they would not support that OS.  Beautiful - forced customer product upgrade.

Add that to other issues with X-Rite and I was hoping to learn from this post that another company has developed a competitive product that is as good or better than the Munki or the "i" products.

When I said the system works on 10.6.7. what I had in mind - and use routinely - is the Pulse Spectrophotometer for measuring the prints of target patches to create paper/printer profiles. That does work. The colorimeter that came with that kit is a DTP-94 (aka Monaco Optix XR) - there should be a framework or application to operate that as well. This I don't know because I use an NEC wide-gamut display and need a different colorimeter for profiling it. I use NEC's customized i1 Display-2 for this.

XRite by the way has zero interest in this matter. They simply tell their clients to upgrade. Their tech support people were very surprised to learn that my Pulse Elite system actually works on Snow Leopard.

I too am looking for alternatives to XRite for my colour management requirements because there are several aspects of their M.O. that don't give me confidence going forward - not to say they haven't made or bought-out excellent products in the past. That said, they have devoted significant effort and resources to tying-up the colour management market and in that they appear to be succeeding - somewhat. But I'm still keeping my eyes, ears and fingers active looking for options.

[digitaldog]

Now, X-Rite choose to obsolete the Pulse by not supporting with current version of OS, thus I must replace it.

ColorPort runs 64-bit, it supports the PULSE so it will run in Lion. It will save out CGATs data. Can the PULSE software import CGATS data? What’s an upgrade to i1P or any product that builds a profile from CGATs going to run?

[Mark D Segal]

ColorPort runs 64-bit, it supports the PULSE so it will run in Lion. It will save out CGATs data. Can the PULSE software import CGATS data? What’s an upgrade to i1P or any product that builds a profile from CGATs going to run?

Andrew, the Pulse software can import ".txt" files. That's about as much as I could learn from reading the manual. More fundamentally though, IF (don't know - just suggesting) the Pulse Elite software needs Rosetta to operate on OSX, that will obsolete it with Lion, because Rosetta will be gone with Lion. I think the only way to know for sure will be to try it when the new OS publishes. One can buy i1Profiler for $500 at the moment, I believe.

[digitaldog]

Andrew, the Pulse software can import ".txt" files. That's about as much as I could learn from reading the manual. More fundamentally though, IF (don't know - just suggesting) the Pulse Elite software needs Rosetta to operate on OSX, that will obsolete it with Lion, because Rosetta will be gone with Lion. I think the only way to know for sure will be to try it when the new OS publishes. One can buy i1Profiler for $500 at the moment, I believe.

Well a CGATs file is a txt file but the issue I see here is more about the expense of new hardware. Seems PULSE will operate with ColorPort just fine. And save out the data necessary to build a profile. So its the profile creation software that’s the issue. I don’t know, but would expect that X-Rite should have an upgrade path whereby for a reasonable fee (and that term is debatable), one could continue to use PULSE and  i1P to build profiles. Keep in mind, no one, X-Rite included is forcing any user to upgrade to Lion. The tool works now in Snow Leopard. If someone wants a far more advanced profile creating engine AND Lion, they have to upgrade (they have to pay to upgrade Lion too).

IF I owned a PULSE and the hardware was a doorstop, if moving to Lion (which isn’t mandatory) was desired, I’d be a bit more upset with the situation. But the PULSE still works even under Lion with the free ColorPort software.

[Mark D Segal]

Andrew I think there are two questions going forward, and I also think we really can't predict how it will all eventually shake-out. The first is hardware. Yes, as ColorPort NOW is, it supports the Pulse. Will it continue to do so in the future if it needs to be amended for Lion? I don't know what X-Rite needs or wants to do with ColorPort in the future and supporting the Pulse is off their radar. The second is the software, I touched upon above. And yes, you are right - Lion+Profiling software means buying i1Profiler. This is not the factor that would keep me from upgrading to Lion. I (and perhaps many others) have no idea whether I want to upgrade to Lion - that depends on its value-added and issues, if any. I won't be an early adopter - that much is for sure. The fallback for all people with Pulse Elite systems is to keep an older laptop handy that supports this system and use it completely from there. As long as it runs the program and the spectro, that's all one needs.

[digitaldog]

Andrew I think there are two questions going forward, and I also think we really can't predict how it will all eventually shake-out. The first is hardware. Yes, as ColorPort NOW is, it supports the Pulse. Will it continue to do so in the future if it needs to be amended for Lion?

ColorPort 2.0 is a 64-bit app. It should run fine under Lion. And I don’t see why PULSE support would suddenly disappear.

[Mark D Segal]

Does ColorPort need Rosetta?

[digitaldog]

Does ColorPort need Rosetta?

No. 2.0 is a true Intel native app.

[Mark D Segal]

OK, in that case what works now should work then - for the hardware. The software remains to be seen. The workaround without spending money is a legacy computer.

[digitaldog]

OK, in that case what works now should work then - for the hardware. The software remains to be seen. The workaround without spending money is a legacy computer.

Yes or dual boot or install OS on an external. And yes, no money implies no Lion, its not a free upgrade either.

[Mark D Segal]

Right.

I meant no money on profiling software. Not to say it may not be worthwhile. The profile that was generated for me with i1Profiler did display slightly better rendition of saturated yellows and to a lesser extent reds than I obtained using the Pulse Elite. Whether that's worth upgrading for is the question. Buying Lion of course is a different matter. Waiting to see what it will do that all of the sudden becomes indispensable (you know - supply creates its own demand). :-)

[Wayne Fox]

Datacolor's Spyder3 Studio is a cost-effective one-box solution - in particular, the Spyder3 Print makes very respectable B&W-specific printer profiles.

I just spent some time testing a spyder3 studio my rep left me for a few days.  While I felt it did create good paper profiles, they had a warm bias in the highlights which was definitely noticeable printing B&W's.  I know the software has many mechanisms for tweaking the profiles, and some customers may even like a profile that is a little bit warm, but it seems to me in basic mode out of the box it should deliver a very neutral profile, not require me to tweak it to get to neutral, something i1P and the Munki seem to do.

To build specific profiles for B&W it may be a nice tool for some, for example with the spyder I could build a "sepia" profile etc. but I would prefer a neutral profile and create the tinting via tools in Lightroom/CaptureOne/Photoshop.

For the price, it is a very solid tool- as you said a very cost effective one-box solution.  I believe retail on it is about the same or maybe even less than a Munki.

[Lust4Life]

I just spent part of the morning reading a few reviews on the Spider3 and must admit, looks like it gives far more utility, and more complex color patches, than the ColorMunki Photo.  Frankly, it looks like it could give the iOnePhoto Pro a run for the money at a far more cost effective price point.

One of the few comments I've found that concern me are Waynes about the warm tone that should be neutral.  That would bug me!

Am I missing something else?