It mentions nothing about this being at additional cost. I naturally assumed this was in the package with the printers profiling system. Look on HPs' website for the cost of this APS package. You will not find it. This misled me.
I am very disappointed to discover that in order to create a high quality profile with the built in spectro system it is necessary to spend about another $900 on the Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) from HP.
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As everyone knows from previous posts, I am not one to defend HP. But I disagree with Charles. HP was not misleading on this point. I always understood that the APS was an additional purchase.
The exact text, with reference to the APS, states that "HP's Advanced Profiling Solution offers additional options for profiling and calibrating your system." I would interpret the words "additional options" as something that is not necessarily included with the printer. When you click on "supplies and accessories" the APS is listed as a supply or accessory, again implying that it is an additional cost. The HP downloadable data sheet is even more explicit. With regards to the APS, it says that "Also, with the optional HP Advanced Profiling Solution, you can edit and modify existing profiles and create CMYK profiles." That is pretty clear that the APS is optional -- i.e. it would cost an additional amount. I clearly understood that long before I received the Z3100.
(For those of you who think I am just a basher of HP, I hope I have clarified that I'll defend HP when it is warranted, and be very critical if that is justified.)
Adiallo is correct when he says that you will likely be very pleased with the output that the Z3100 is capable of with its own software and without the APS.
When using relative colormetric, I can barely see a difference between the Easy software and Easy profiles versus the APS and profiles created from that. The difference is more evident with perceptual color space. Shadows are slightly more open, especially when comparing the same print using PhotoRag with an Easy Profile and the APS profile. When printing a color test image from Caponigro (a photo of a woman with a fruit basket on her head) there is a difference with red and yellow -- both are *slightly* deeper and richer in color when printed using the APS profile as compared with the Easy profile. If you an exacting professional, the APS might be worth it. If you are an advanced amateur who normally prints only with relative colormetric, it is probably not worth the huge price of $800
If you aren't in a position to compare side-by-side, then you'll likely be pleased with the results you obtain from the Easy software since you'll never know the difference. In my case, I ran detailed tests comparing prints using profiles from the Easy software, to prints from an Epson 4000 using the $1100 Xrite package, and they were pretty similar. And the Caponigro test is a bit artificial. For the standard landscape, I doubt you'd notice the difference. (That is not to say that the 4000 is identical to the Z3100, which is clearly not the case. Not with the built-in spectro; the far better B&W; and the gloss enhancer is awesome even with Epson Luster.)
I infer from the press release on the Xrite web site that the APS may include higher level algorithms and software for creating profiles, as compared with the Easy software, and so it may be more than just including a bigger target. If true, maybe that justifies charging an additional amount for the APS.
I'd only invest in the APS if you are after that last 10% or 15% percent of improvement. That is what professionals, say those who are printing exact reproductions of art or who sell their prints for high prices, would demand.
(A later edit -- see below. Harald correctly noted that pros would also buy the APS for editing of profiles and the ability to do CMYK. My above comments are aimed at advanced amateurs doing RGB.)
I agree that the APS is seriously overpriced for what you get, since for an additional $200 or $300 (i.e. for $1,100) you can get a separate package that includes a spectro, etc. By that standard, the APS is an outrageous rip-off.
As to those who actually recommend that option -- buy an $1,100 package from Xrite or Gretag instead -- well that is just plain nuts. What would you want a hand-held spectro for? The whole reason to buy the Z3100 is for the built in spectro and the convenience represented by that solution, and only the APS works with that.
As one who has used the Xrite hand-held spectro, I can testify that is really time consuming. The HP solution is wonderful in that regard. I love the automation of the Z3100!
But Charles is correct that HP should have just incorporated the largest target into the Easy software at the outset, and not asked anyone to spend an additional $800.
There is no reason they couldn't have done that, and by selling the APS for $800 they are really exploiting -- indeed, raping -- the pros who need the last bit of improvement with better profiles. The Z3100 is expensive enough, and is aimed squarely at that pro market. HP did not create good will with their customers when they created this separate software package and charged an outrageous and completely extravagant price of $800 for it.
Especially when none of us needed the colorimeter for monitors. What was HP thinking? That we are rank amateurs buying our first $400 printer and needing monitor calibration, instead of advanced amateurs and pros buying a $4000 printer who already own a colorimeter? NO ONE NEEDED THE COLORIMETER. HP should have left that out, and cut the price of the software by $200 to $300.
In closing, I again remind everyone DO NOT BUY THE APS until HP issues a sofware revision to fix the problems. Robert (Panascape) posted a detailed summary in the other thread of the revisions planned for the next software release, so it appears that HP will fix the problems.
Robert also reported that the design team appears to be under considerable pressure from upper management to fix the problems.
That pressure is a direct consequence of the previous postings on the APS. Companies commit financial resources only when they have to. HP is driven by the bottom line just like any other corporation. The pressure that Robert refers to directly resulted from threads that open with "DO NOT BUY HP APS."
When they lose sales, they fix the problems. And they commit the resources to do so quickly, i.e. in 1 or 2 months, instead of waiting for one year as is often the case with many other companies.
Now let us hope that they next get all the problems with the Easy software fixed -- i.e. the install problems that have been experienced by some of us, along with the truly rude and arrogant tech support that has been reported on this forum with regards to supporting the software.