i1 Pro Rev E

pkk1 said:

Hello All,

I've been looking on ebay at the prices of i1 Pro devices. I want to upgrade from my Colomunki Photo. It looks like a serviceable unit can be found for about $500. What I want to know is whether the Rev E version always comes with the licensing needed to make printer profiles. From what I'm seeing on X=rite's website not all i1 Pro devices have this licensing. The website is very difficult to navigate in.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

AFAIK, the licensing status is stored in the device and without checking, you have no way of knowing what options are enabled.

X-Rite has some downloadable test software which would interrogate a device and give a report on its state.


You will likely need an older version for an original i1Pro

This is a problem with purchasing 'unknown' i1Pro devices - the seller should offer this info, but often doesn't. I know of several people who've been caught out by this.

I have a RevB i1Pro with all the accessories (beamer etc) in a carry case, which I don't really need any more... but see the report below for what is activated.

As you can see - fully licensed for i1Match, not i1Profiler

This is the device I first started using when testing stuff years ago, and Gretagmacbeth/X-Rite gave me a USB dongle with a sort of 'Access all areas pass' on it, which is what I still use for testing new kit.

As an aside - I'm told by the management I need a clear-out here, so if anyone (UK) is interested in it, let me know, or it goes on fleabay ;-)

i1Pro Tests

General Information

Date and Time: 11/10/2021 09:59

Application version: 4.1.2.290, 64-bit

SDK version i1Pro: 4.2.4.5061

SDK version i1iO: 2.2.4.5061

SDK version i1iSis: 2.0.0.4942

SDK version ColorMunki: 1.0.3.4630

SDK version i1Display2: X-Rite, Inc. SipCal Library Ver. 7.3.7

Platform: Mac OS 10.14., 64-bit

Open instrument

Connection: Successful

Open instrument: Successful

Instrument information

Instrument inspection: Successful

Serial number i1Pro: 121780

Type: i1Pro

Revision: A

Firmware version: 302

CPLD version: 301

Dark measurement count: 7951

Lamp burning time: 4234.3 seconds

Spot measurement count: 2253

Scan measurement count: 584

Factory calibration: 31/05/2005

Instrument Licenses

Measurement Modes: [Reflectance Spot, Reflectance Scan, Emission, Ambient Light Spot, Ambient Light Scan]

Licensed functionality: [Has Ambient Light, Spectral values, Tristimulus, Density]

Licensed Modules:

i1Match Module "Scanner": licensed

i1Match Module "Monitor": licensed

i1Match Module "Printer": NOT licensed

i1Match Module "Printer RGB only": licensed

i1Match Module "Printer CMYK only": licensed

i1Match Module "Beamer": licensed

i1Match Module "Printer Easy RGB": licensed

i1Match Module "Printer Easy CMYK": licensed

i1Match Module "Digicam": licensed

i1Match Module "Editor": licensed

i1Profiler Module "Display Profiling": NOT licensed

i1Profiler Module "RGB Printer Profiling": NOT licensed

i1Profiler Module "CMYK Printer Profiling": NOT licensed

i1Profiler Module "Printer QA": NOT licensed

i1Profiler Module "Advanced-Mode": NOT licensed

i1Profiler Module "Projector": NOT licensed

Button test

Button: Successful

Emission test

Emission calibration: Successful

Prepare the instrument for emission measurement

White measurement: Successful

Gray measurement: Successful

Black measurement: Successful

Red measurement: Successful

Green measurement: Successful

Blue measurement: Successful

Emission: Successful

Button test

Button: Successful

Noise Tests

Dark measurement: Successful

Noise measurements: Successful

Noise result: Successful

Reflectance test

Reflectance Spot calibration: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 1: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 2: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 3: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 4: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 5: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 6: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 7: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 8: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 9: Successful

Reflectance Spot measurement 10: Successful

Lamp test: Successful

Reflectance drift test: Successful

Reflectance Scan calibration: Successful

*** PASS ***

Keith Cooper said:

pkk1 said:

Hello All,

I've been looking on ebay at the prices of i1 Pro devices. I want to upgrade from my Colomunki Photo. It looks like a serviceable unit can be found for about $500. What I want to know is whether the Rev E version always comes with the licensing needed to make printer profiles. From what I'm seeing on X=rite's website not all i1 Pro devices have this licensing. The website is very difficult to navigate in.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

AFAIK, the licensing status is stored in the device and without checking, you have no way of knowing what options are enabled.

X-Rite has some downloadable test software which would interrogate a device and give a report on its state.

https://www.xrite.com/service-support/product-support/formulation-and-qc-software/i1diagnostics

Click to expand...

< snip >

Just a word of caution: if you install that software, don't uninstall it.

In my experience, uninstalling it corrupts any installation you have of i1Profiler by removing things i1Profiler needs such as xrdd.exe. You may then have to uninstall everything to do with the calibrator (see https://www.xrite.com/service-support/uninstalling_i1profiler_on_windows), reboot and reinstall it all before iProfiler will be able to see the device.

Thanks for the reply. This devise had no software with it but I didn't know if I could use the software from another devise that was not working or worn out. Do all Rev E versions give you access to iProfiler to make printer profiles? That is the question I can't find an answer for. Thanks again!

pkk1 said:

Thanks for the reply. This devise had no software with it but I didn't know if I could use the software from another devise that was not working or worn out.

Click to expand...

It is possible to transfer a license from one device to another.

It is functionality built into i1Profiler.

Caveats are that I've never actually tried this and you will need an older version of i1Profiler to do it (which supports the i1Pro)

pkk1 said:

Do all Rev E versions give you access to iProfiler to make printer profiles? That is the question I can't find an answer for.

Click to expand...

Rev E is the same as any other i1Pro device - the licensing info is in the device and varies from device to device, depending on its history.

Thanks very much. You answered my question.

Thanks Simon. You really helped

pkk1 said:

Hello All,

I've been looking on ebay at the prices of i1 Pro devices. I want to upgrade from my Colomunki Photo. It looks like a serviceable unit can be found for about $500. What I want to know is whether the Rev E version always comes with the licensing needed to make printer profiles. From what I'm seeing on X=rite's website not all i1 Pro devices have this licensing. The website is very difficult to navigate in.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

While others have discussed the licensing, it is curious that no one has discussed the unit itself. The gen 1/2 of i1 Pro devices had a tungsten bulb as their illumination source. In theory, these exhibited drift over their usable life and required calibration. They (being x-rite) never published a expected service life to my knowledge and I used them for years without difficulty.

The newer i1 Pro 3's utilize a full spectrum LED and have a faster scanning rate. Though I haven't measured the source light's spectra, I have noticed that I achieve better intra and inter-measurement consistency with the new device and fewer scanning errors. Does that translate to better profiling results? it remains to be seen and I haven't gone back to re-profile older papers to determine if the newer device leads to better linearity and profile accuracy.

Adam2 said:

While others have discussed the licensing, it is curious that no one has discussed the unit itself.

Click to expand...

I'd assume because of price - it's almost always a key factor when I'm asked about aspects of the original i1Pro ;-)

I had my i1iO updated to take the i1Pro2 partly because of the improved specs. The i1Pro3 is improved again, but I tend to use the iSis XL more often.

Can someone please explain what are these licenses for? If I want to purchase used i1 Pro v2 for my personal use, should I pay attention to the licenses? I don't quite get it, so any clarification before I purchase it would be helpful. Thanks!

hhhhhhhh said:

Can someone please explain what are these licenses for? If I want to purchase used i1 Pro v2 for my personal use, should I pay attention to the licenses? I don't quite get it, so any clarification before I purchase it would be helpful. Thanks!

Click to expand...

AFAIK, the X-Rite licenses govern which X-Rite software / functionality the device will work with. E.g. if the particular device is not a 'photo' model, then you may not be able to use that device to build ICC printing profiles with X-Rite software.

AFAIK this is not an issue if you use at least some other software, like Argyll CMS.

What license is required in order to make printer ICC profiles?

hhhhhhhh said:

What license is required in order to make printer ICC profiles?

Click to expand...

I don't know precisely which license(s) / versions allow that spectrophotometer to build ICC printing profiles with X-Rite software; I just know it's an issue. E.g., X-Rite sells or recently has sold an i1 Photo Pro 3, an i1 Basic Pro 3, and an i1 Publish Pro 3--and I think they all have the same hardware. Likewise, X-Rite has sold different-named devices that all use the same basic ColorMunki Photo / i1Studio spectrophotometer. Some models can use the standard X-Rite software to build ICC printing profiles, and some cannot. There is some info at https://www.argyllcms.com/doc/instruments.html. It would not surprise me if someone at the Luminous Landscape printing and/or color management forums could tell you the specifics.

NAwlins Contrarian said:

NAwlins Contrarian said:

What license is required in order to make printer ICC profiles?

Click to expand...

I don't know precisely which license(s) / versions allow that spectrophotometer to build ICC printing profiles with X-Rite software; I just know it's an issue. E.g., X-Rite sells or recently has sold an i1 Photo Pro 3, an i1 Basic Pro 3, and an i1 Publish Pro 3--and I think they all have the same hardware. Likewise, X-Rite has sold different-named devices that all use the same basic ColorMunki Photo / i1Studio spectrophotometer. Some models can use the standard X-Rite software to build ICC printing profiles, and some cannot. There is some info at https://www.argyllcms.com/doc/instruments.html. It would not surprise me if someone at the Luminous Landscape printing and/or color management forums could tell you the specifics.

Click to expand...

I was prepared to return my device yesterday when I realized that it doesn't have printer profiling license activated, and when I look at the Argyll website, looking all confusing, but after an hour of reading, I quite got it pretty quickly, and few hours later I had my first profile created with i1Pro 2 and Argyll, and it's quite good. I would had it even faster, but I had to let paper to dry a little bit before taking a measures.

So, I want to encourage everyone who is scared at first of Argyll, it's quite easy. Not so user friendly, but not difficult to understand, and in fact, this article helped a lot:

https://ericsantiago.com/2014/03/29/profiling-an-epson-9600-with-an-x-rite-i1-pro-and-argyllcms/

This is what you have to do in a nutshell to make your profile, and not having to read tons of stuff on Argyll website.

Installing part is IMO better explained in this article:

https://www.bwmastery.com/blog/2021/using-argyll-cms-to-measure-grayscale-step-wedge-targets

Argyll CMS is a godsend.

I found this tutorial very helpful:

https://torger.se/anders/photography/argyll-print.html

Angers site occasionally disappears, but a complete version remains on the Internet Archive.