i1Studio info

[Keith Cooper]

Thanks for all the questions and queries about the i1Studio.

I've written up some notes about just what it does (and doesn't do) that I hope are of interest.



Very much a product aimed at a particular market.

Whether it does enough is something you'll have to consider?

At least the software is available for free for existing ColorMunki Photo users, but don't delete your existing software too quickly, since some functions haven't made it into the new package.

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www.northlight-images.co.uk

--
bye for now
Keith Cooper

 

[Howard Moftich]

since some functions haven't made it into the new package.



How very 'X-Rite' of them.

 

[Andre Yew]

Keith, thanks for that detailed overview. It's disappointing to see that XRite still requires you to serialize the 1st and 2nd prints of the printer profiling workflow. I wonder why they can't just let you skip to measuring the 2nd print like they do with the 1st one.

Does it still come with the ColorPicker app that lets you do spot measuring and export the results as a CSV file?

 

[Keith Cooper]

Keith, thanks for that detailed overview. It's disappointing to see that XRite still requires you to serialize the 1st and 2nd prints of the printer profiling workflow. I wonder why they can't just let you skip to measuring the 2nd print like they do with the 1st one.

Does it still come with the ColorPicker app that lets you do spot measuring and export the results as a CSV file?

No - no ways of measuring and saving -anything- :-(

 

[jpegman]

Keith - great overview - almost a full users manual!

Had to same the browser page for future reference.

Also love your sign off

Jpegman

 

[Andre Yew]

No - no ways of measuring and saving -anything- :-(

Thanks Keith. That's unfortunate. I hope the old software will still be available: this was one of the cheaper and more straightforward ways to do things with QTR.

 

[Keith Cooper]

No - no ways of measuring and saving -anything- :-(

Thanks Keith. That's unfortunate. I hope the old software will still be available: this was one of the cheaper and more straightforward ways to do things with QTR.

Note that the i1Studio device won't work with the old ColorMunki software.

You need a ColorMunki device to work with the original -and- new software.

 

[jtoolman]

Keith, thanks for that detailed overview. It's disappointing to see that XRite still requires you to serialize the 1st and 2nd prints of the printer profiling workflow. I wonder why they can't just let you skip to measuring the 2nd print like they do with the 1st one.

Does it still come with the ColorPicker app that lets you do spot measuring and export the results as a CSV file?

 

[Andre Yew]

That's because the CMP as well as i1Studio uses the scanned results of the first 50 patches to generate a CUSTOM generated second set of 50 patches. The second set is dependant on the scanning results of the first 50 printed patches. The second set corrects for reproduction errors from the first set. Odd way to do it but it works perfectly well.

That makes sense, but in that case, I wish there was a way to save that second set so we can resume it later. I've left the program running overnight as I wait for my print to dry, and sometimes my computer will disconnect the spectrophotometer from the USB bus for random reasons, and I have to restart from scratch again. Mostly these days, I just wait a couple of hours, and maybe use a hairdryer if I'm feeling fastidious.

Note that the i1Studio device won't work with the old ColorMunki software.

You need a ColorMunki device to work with the original -and- new software.

Thanks for that info. This is turning out to be one disappointment on top of other disappointments. I guess there is some kind of difference between the two spectrophotometers.

 

[Keith Cooper]

That's because the CMP as well as i1Studio uses the scanned results of the first 50 patches to generate a CUSTOM generated second set of 50 patches. The second set is dependant on the scanning results of the first 50 printed patches. The second set corrects for reproduction errors from the first set. Odd way to do it but it works perfectly well.

That makes sense, but in that case, I wish there was a way to save that second set so we can resume it later. I've left the program running overnight as I wait for my print to dry, and sometimes my computer will disconnect the spectrophotometer from the USB bus for random reasons, and I have to restart from scratch again. Mostly these days, I just wait a couple of hours, and maybe use a hairdryer if I'm feeling fastidious.

That's my concern - if I want to do 5 profiles, it's a long process if I want to wait a reasonable time for each print to dry.

Note that the i1Studio device won't work with the old ColorMunki software.

You need a ColorMunki device to work with the original -and- new software.

Thanks for that info. This is turning out to be one disappointment on top of other disappointments. I guess there is some kind of difference between the two spectrophotometers.

It seems that it is only in some aspects of the USB interface, so the ID is different. Enough to mean that the old software doesn't 'see' the new hardware

 

[jtoolman]

That's because the CMP as well as i1Studio uses the scanned results of the first 50 patches to generate a CUSTOM generated second set of 50 patches. The second set is dependant on the scanning results of the first 50 printed patches. The second set corrects for reproduction errors from the first set. Odd way to do it but it works perfectly well.

That makes sense, but in that case, I wish there was a way to save that second set so we can resume it later. I've left the program running overnight as I wait for my print to dry, and sometimes my computer will disconnect the spectrophotometer from the USB bus for random reasons, and I have to restart from scratch again. Mostly these days, I just wait a couple of hours, and maybe use a hairdryer if I'm feeling fastidious.

That's my concern - if I want to do 5 profiles, it's a long process if I want to wait a reasonable time for each print to dry.

Note that the i1Studio device won't work with the old ColorMunki software.

You need a ColorMunki device to work with the original -and- new software.

Thanks for that info. This is turning out to be one disappointment on top of other disappointments. I guess there is some kind of difference between the two spectrophotometers.

It seems that it is only in some aspects of the USB interface, so the ID is different. Enough to mean that the old software doesn't 'see' the new hardware

 

[digidog]

Thanks for all the questions and queries about the i1Studio.

The new software which appears to be the only item that's actually different and new?

Whether it does enough is something you'll have to consider?

What does 'it' do that is new from the old product?

At least the software is available for free for existing ColorMunki Photo users, but don't delete your existing software too quickly, since some functions haven't made it into the new package.

And some removed. Sad.

 

[digidog]

Keith, thanks for that detailed overview. It's disappointing to see that XRite still requires you to serialize the 1st and 2nd prints of the printer profiling workflow. I wonder why they can't just let you skip to measuring the 2nd print like they do with the 1st one.

Does it still come with the ColorPicker app that lets you do spot measuring and export the results as a CSV file?

No - no ways of measuring and saving -anything- :-(

And in classic X-rite dysfunction, taking one of these profiles into their high end flagship product that hasn't seen love in years, you get this silly dialog:


A tale of two X-rites

What a sad state of software design!

--
Andrew Rodney
Author: Color Management for Photographers
The Digital Dog

Home

 

[digidog]

I guess there is some kind of difference between the two spectrophotometers.

Who here really knows? Seems there's no difference inside where it counts but it would be useful to get a definitive answer from X-rite should someone actually care. Personally, I think the only thing new here is the host software which I was able to run with the older hardware just fine. I saw nothing (even the 'new' B&W profiles) being anything special nor any better than what I currently produce in their i1Profiler package.

So nice review but seems, only new offerings is software and that's a step back as well! No way to set the version (V2 or V4) in the software too.

 

[digidog]

That's because the CMP as well as i1Studio uses the scanned results of the first 50 patches to generate a CUSTOM generated second set of 50 patches. The second set is dependant on the scanning results of the first 50 printed patches. The second set corrects for reproduction errors from the first set. Odd way to do it but it works perfectly well.

That makes sense, but in that case, I wish there was a way to save that second set so we can resume it later. I've left the program running overnight as I wait for my print to dry, and sometimes my computer will disconnect the spectrophotometer from the USB bus for random reasons, and I have to restart from scratch again. Mostly these days, I just wait a couple of hours, and maybe use a hairdryer if I'm feeling fastidious.

That's my concern - if I want to do 5 profiles, it's a long process if I want to wait a reasonable time for each print to dry.

Note that the i1Studio device won't work with the old ColorMunki software.

You need a ColorMunki device to work with the original -and- new software.

Thanks for that info. This is turning out to be one disappointment on top of other disappointments. I guess there is some kind of difference between the two spectrophotometers.

It seems that it is only in some aspects of the USB interface, so the ID is different. Enough to mean that the old software doesn't 'see' the new hardware

Mistake (bug) or by design. Not that either is actually acceptable.

 

[Keith Cooper]

10-20 as indicated in the software drying timer is PLENTY!

No you say?

Yes I say!

And still I say no

I've recently been looking at B&W printing performance with the Epson P5000 with a number of thick fine art papers (cotton and mixed)

Lighter colours may well be stable in 10-20 mins, but greys in the 90-100% range took several hours to stabilise.

The surface also becomes more resistant to marking.

So yes sometimes, but not often enough for me to rush profile creation.

This is what makes making multiple profiles at one time a PITA with the old CM and the new i1S

It's the prime reason that I only tried a few papers for the review - I've better things to do than leave software running overnight just because someone decided that saving measurements was a bad thing.

 

[jtoolman]

10-20 as indicated in the software drying timer is PLENTY!

No you say?

Yes I say!

And still I say no

I've recently been looking at B&W printing performance with the Epson P5000 with a number of thick fine art papers (cotton and mixed)

Lighter colours may well be stable in 10-20 mins, but greys in the 90-100% range took several hours to stabilise.

Which may or may not ever truly show up as VISUAL differences when producing real prints.

I agree they should have included a variable slider for increasing the drying time if desired.

The surface also becomes more resistant to marking.

So yes sometimes, but not often enough for me to rush profile creation.

This is what makes making multiple profiles at one time a PITA with the old CM and the new i1S

It's the prime reason that I only tried a few papers for the review - I've better things to do than leave software running overnight just because someone decided that saving measurements was a bad thing.

 

[Keith Cooper]

Lighter colours may well be stable in 10-20 mins, but greys in the 90-100% range took several hours to stabilise.

Which may or may not ever truly show up as VISUAL differences when producing real prints.

The changes in measurements in the 85% to 100% range affect the overall tone curve generated and degree of shadow crunch visible.

OK a quite specific usage (and using an i1iO for measurements), but I was surprised at the way the numbers changed after a few hours.

I agree they should have included a variable slider for increasing the drying time if desired.

I'd prefer to be able to save sets of measurements and resume profile making the following day ;-)

 

[digidog]

10-20 as indicated in the software drying timer is PLENTY!

No you say?

Yes I say!

And still I say no

I agree depending on the inkset. I’ve got measurements of targets from pigment inks 5 minutes, an hour and 24 hours after printing and for some colors, the dE values are high enough to wait overnight.

I've recently been looking at B&W printing performance with the Epson P5000 with a number of thick fine art papers (cotton and mixed)

Lighter colours may well be stable in 10-20 mins, but greys in the 90-100% range took several hours to stabilise.

My measurements show very dark blues too. Best to wait for drying.

The surface also becomes more resistant to marking.

So yes sometimes, but not often enough for me to rush profile creation.

This is what makes making multiple profiles at one time a PITA with the old CM and the new i1S

It's the prime reason that I only tried a few papers for the review - I've better things to do than leave software running overnight just because someone decided that saving measurements was a bad thing.

 

[digidog]

Lighter colours may well be stable in 10-20 mins, but greys in the 90-100% range took several hours to stabilise.

Which may or may not ever truly show up as VISUAL differences when producing real prints.

The changes in measurements in the 85% to 100% range affect the overall tone curve generated and degree of shadow crunch visible.

OK a quite specific usage (and using an i1iO for measurements), but I was surprised at the way the numbers changed after a few hours.

Part of the errors are from that Spectrometer! As the arm extends down, dE errors grow; a design issue.

I agree they should have included a variable slider for increasing the drying time if desired.

I'd prefer to be able to save sets of measurements and resume profile making the following

Indeed. Why didn’t they ask?