I have just finished reading your book and I have learned a huge amount. But I have a few questions about printer calibration products. In various places you mention the Eye-One Spectrophotometer, PrintFix Pro, MeasureTool contained in the demo version of ProfileMaker, QTR Create ICC, and QTR Create Profile.
I am, I think understandably, confused. Which should I use for what when?
A little Web research shows me that PrintFix Pro is slow and hard to control the clicks, so I would prefer the Eye-One even though it costs a lot more. But how hard is it to use the Eye-One to generate a good ICC profile for grayscale? And which Eye-One product do I need? Note I will probably be using OEM inks on an Epson 3800.
A little Web research does NOT show me where to find the free demo version of ProfileMaker. And even if I find it, can I use the MeasureTool indefinitely without buying the product?
And, speaking of the Epson 3800, if I am using OEM inks does QTR really help? (I already have it, and it did seem to help on my Epson 2400 (which is borrowed so I can’t convert it to 3rd party inks).)
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Printer calibration hardware/software
Started by slc, Jan 04 2008 02:35 PM
1 reply to this topic
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Posted 04 January 2008 - 08:46 PM
slc, on Jan 4 2008, 02:35 PM, said:
A little Web research shows me that PrintFix Pro is slow and hard to control the clicks, so I would prefer the Eye-One even though it costs a lot more. But how hard is it to use the Eye-One to generate a good ICC profile for grayscale? And which Eye-One product do I need? Note I will probably be using OEM inks on an Epson 3800.
To use the Eye-One to make a grayscale ICC profile you need Roy Harrington's QTR software. Making the actual measurements is easy. Anyone can do it reasonably fast with a few minute's practice. You need the Eye-One spectrophotometer. All "Eye-One Photo" bundles contain the spectrophotometer. The differences in the various bundles are in software capabilities and/or additional hardware.
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A little Web research does NOT show me where to find the free demo version of ProfileMaker. And even if I find it, can I use the MeasureTool indefinitely without buying the product?
Go to the X-Rite site to download ProfileMaker 5 and then install MeasureTool. The demo functionality should last for as long as you have the software installed.
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And, speaking of the Epson 3800, if I am using OEM inks does QTR really help? (I already have it, and it did seem to help on my Epson 2400 (which is borrowed so I can’t convert it to 3rd party inks).)
The 3800 is a better printer than the 2400. Many 3800 users are happy printitng b/w just using the Epson driver. That's certainly the least complicated approach and there's nothing wrong with keeping things simple. QTR allows you to make your own profiles for any paper you like, optimzed for b/w output. Whether you're satisfied with the Epson driver or need QTR or PrintFix Pro is really a personal choice. So start simple and if you're not satisfied then try either of those options.
