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Xrite easy color

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Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:33 pm

Does anyone have any opinions or tips for the Monaco Xrite Easy Color? My brother is giving me his and said I should also calibrate my scanners and printers too.
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby Gerlinde » Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:23 pm

Cheryl, I don't have this particular calibrator, I have an old Spyder2. No matter what you are going to use, it makes really a big difference to have your display calibrated. Especially when you print your own pictures.
As for generating printer or scanner profiles, it depends on your make and model of printer/scanner. I have Epson and they have good profiles, so there is no need really to bother. But before that I had a Lexmark All-in-one and used Kirkland Paper from Costco. I had to make my own profiles to match the output to what it looked like on screen.
I don't know if this helps, I'm just saying - any calibrator is better than none. :-D
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby Bob » Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:45 pm

That's a nice gift from your brother. Is it one of the early versions with the Monaco Calibrator or a later version with the Xrite Eye One Display 2 calibrator (aka i1d2)?

The EZColor software is consumer level and basic, but you should be able to get a decently accurate monitor profile with it using either of those two calibrator pucks. The EZColor bundle also includes an IT8 target which you can use to calibrate your scanner and in turn calibrate your printer. I would take your brother's advice and calibrate each device.

I have an i1d2 calibrator and am very happy with it. I don't have the EZ Color software or the IT8 target. I'm using the Eye One Match 3 software for the i1d2.

Make sure the device you are calibrating has warmed up for at least a half hour (prefereably more) -- it makes a difference. Leave the puck connected during that time. And, adjust the luminance of the monitor if you software provides for that, LCD monitors are typically too bright.
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby John 'twosheds' McDonald » Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:26 am

Bob wrote:I have an i1d2 calibrator and....I'm using the Eye One Match 3 software for the i1d2.

Same set up here. As Gerlinde says, calibration makes a noticable difference. :-D
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:28 am

Thanks for the input :) He has the manual and guess it will have step by step. I have 2 scanners..the Epson 4490 and an all in one printer/scanner etc a Epson Artisan 835.

I do not print my photos and send those out to be printed, but I did notice there is a difference in quality compared to what I see on screen. The biggest problem I have is printing out DVD inserts. I have to run small strips (instead of printing the whole page) of the insert to get the color correct and have to fiddle with the Artisan's color profile and not use PS profile.

I'll calibrate after the holidays and will post any further questions here. Thanks!
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:49 pm

Finally getting around to calibrate my monitor. Monaco EZcolor with Monaco Optix XR. Need help please...water it down. I am reading the manual & a Photoshop CS5 book about calibration.

1. The manual states:

Windows: If you are using Adobe Photoshop, uninstall the Adobe Gamma Loader, from your system. DO NOT remove the Adobe Gamma Control Panel.

The PS5 book has no mention of uninstalling this loader. Should I and where/how?

2. I have a Haans-G HW223D monitor. The manual says to have the bit depth at max & desktop to light gray. Which I did. I start to calibrate, but got stuck on the step that says to set the monitor to default brightness & contrast. Where/how?

3. The PS5 book said to use a white point of 6500K and a gamma level of 2.2. Correct?
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby Bob » Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:49 pm

...uninstall the Adobe Gamma Loader The PS5 book has no mention of uninstalling this loader. Should I and where/how?


Very old versions of Photoshop installed this as part of the standard installation. The Adobe Gamma Loader hasn't been included in Photoshop for some time and it's unlikely you have it installed. You don't need it. Don't worry about it.

The purpose of the loader was to initalize the Lookup Table (LUT) on the video card using your calibrated profile. Windows XP required a loader to do this. Windows 7 has this capability built-in, you just need to activate it.

First calibrate your monitor to create a profile using EZColor. Then, bring up Color Management (from the start button type color management into the search box and press enter). There will be three tabs in Color management. Under the Devices Tab, Select your display for the device. Check the "use my settings for this device" box. It should list the profile you created in the profiles associated with this device. If it doesn't click "add..." and add it to the list. Set it as the default profile.

Now the tricky part. Click on the "Advanced" tab. The Display Calibration section at the bottom has a check box labeled "Use Windows Display Calibration. That needs to be checked to enable the LUT loading, but it is grayed out so you can't check it. Click on the "Change System Defaults" button at the bottom of the panel. That will bring up the Color Management System Default panel which looks a lot like the regular Color Management panel. You only need to change one thing. Click on the "Advanced" tab in that panel. Now check the "Use Windows Display Calibration" box. You are done. You can close the Color management panels. Next time you boot into windows, the lut will be automatically loaded from your profile.

If EZColor installed a LUT Loader (which is likely), remove it from the startup folder (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup). You don't need it.

2. I have a Haans-G HW223D monitor. The manual says to have the bit depth at max & desktop to light gray. Which I did. I start to calibrate, but got stuck on the step that says to set the monitor to default brightness & contrast. Where/how?


I'm not familiar with that monitor, but the On Screen Display should have an option to reset to factory settings. If it's not in the main menu, it may be in an Other menu item. But, it should have one.

3. The PS5 book said to use a white point of 6500K and a gamma level of 2.2. Correct?


That's what I use.
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:52 pm

To clarify, I have Windows XP. Does this make a diff with the loader for the LUT? To get to the Color Mgmt panel, I right clicked on the desktop & chose Properties. Is this the one you are referring to? See the screen shot. Thanks for helping, I really don't know what I am doing.

(And I did find the pdf manual for my monitor and reset to factory default.)
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:02 pm

Somehow I managed to complete the calibration & profile. The saved profile was automatically added to the color mgmt. in my screen shot. Whites don't appear as white now. Like in this Muvipix text box or the Google home white page. :-k
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby Bob » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:09 pm

Sorry, I somehow thought you had Windows 7. Windows XP does not have the ability to load the LUT. You do need a loader. EZColor should have installed a LUT loader and placed it or a shortcut to it in your startup folder. Look for something with "gamma" in the name like "Monaco Gamma". That needs to run every time you sign on to Windows. If it's in the startup folder it will do that.

Whites tones should stay white and black and gray tones should not have a color cast. If there is a cast, something is wrong. You may need to run the calibration again.

Just to confirm, your copy of EZColor came with a hardware colorimeter, right? They did sell a version without the device and the calibration was a "visual" calibration.
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:48 pm

Bob wrote:Just to confirm, your copy of EZColor came with a hardware colorimeter, right?


Yes, it did come with this. I found the Monacogamma. It must be a hidden file because it wasn't listed in the Program files menu & I had to do a search.

I must have done something incorrectly to get the blue/gray whites. It is like a dirty laundry-mat white. I will try the calibration again tomorrow. Think maybe I should wait until afternoon to get the right lighting with no lights on. I'll post my results. Then 2 scanners & a printer to go. Thanks for your help. :)

What setting should I use in PS CS5? The PS book recommends the North America Prepress 2 which gives an Adobe RGB (1998).
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby Bob » Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:10 am

What setting should I use in PS CS5? The PS book recommends the North America Prepress 2 which gives an Adobe RGB (1998).


It depends on how you are going to use your photos. If you are going to mainly be printing your photos on your own printer, that would be a reasonable choice. If you are going to be printing your photos at a store or other print service, or if you mainly want to view images on your computer or in a browser, send them to friends or relatives, or use them in a video application, North America General Purpose 2 is good. That will give you a working color space of sRGB IEC61966-2.1.

Adobe RGB is a wider color space than sRGB. That allows it to handle more saturated colors especially in the blue-green to green area. But, the value range is the same as sRGB. Adobe RGB doesn't support more colors, it spaces them further apart to extend the range. This can introduce banding in smooth gradients. If you are going to use Adobe RGB (or any wider gamut color space), it's best to work in 16-bit when editing. Another issue is that Windows and most Windows applications are not color managed and will most likely ignore any embedded profile. The result of viewing a photo with an Adobe RGB profile in a non-color managed application is that it will look less saturated and washed out.

Whichever default color space you choose, I'd recommend initially setting the color management policies section to preserve embedded profiles and check the boxes regarding missing and mismatched profiles. This will give you good feedback on what's happening to your color profiles and give you options when opening if the photos differ from your default color space. After you get a feel for how this works and learn your color management workflow, you can uncheck the boxes and set the options to preserve or convert as you see fit. I'd also recommend embedding the profile in the photo when saving.
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:27 pm

Thanks Bob for the explanation, much appreciated. I send my photos out for printing. The main thing I print are DVD inserts and have a heck of time getting the color correct. The only way to come close is to have the printer manage the colors and not PS. I am hoping the calibration will take care of that and I can have PS manage the colors. Printing photos look horrible and blotchy. Guess I should go with North America General Purpose 2. :-k

I re-calibrated today and it looks better, but still the white has a slight blue cast to it. The first time I didn't adjust the white point RGB on the monitor settings and I had the monitor to max bit depth, but not max resolution. The first time I had the desktop color set to gray and the second time set to an off white. Changed the setting to dim room from moderate light. The numbers for the second profile are as follows (not sure if this will show the white problem):

Black Luminance 0.01 cd/m2
White Luminace 65.06 cd/m2
Target White Point 6500k x=0.314, y=0.324
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby Bob » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:55 am

The white luminance is rather low. There is no "correct" value, it will depend on your monitor and lighting conditions, but normally you would expect something in the 90 to 130 cd/m2 with the most commonly recommended value being something on the order of 120 for a LCD monitor. 120 is too bright for my setup and I found by experiment that 110 cd/m2 works well for me. I'd start with something in the 100 to 120 cd/m2 range and go from there.
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Re: Xrite easy color

Postby momoffduty » Sun Apr 01, 2012 5:13 pm

Bob wrote:I'd start with something in the 100 to 120 cd/m2 range and go from there.


I could not figure out how to plug in a value. Ran the calibration 2 more times and changed the lighting room from dim to moderate. This time I reset the RGB white point back to 100% and did not measure it. Left that option alone. I did keep the 6500K & the 2.2 gamma. The first time ended up with a white luminance of 78.24 setting the brightness in the middle of the moderate room range. The second time went with a brightness in the high moderate room range and ended up with a white luminance of 79.29. The appearance of the whites are now a 'cool' white. Before with the white luminance of 65.06 the whites appeared grayish.

I can live with the profile now. :-k

The book states regarding the white point:
Some LCDs offer RGB "white point" controls, but our testing has indicated better results may be achieved by using the native white point.

I had adjusted these the first calibrations and not the second 2x.

I have not tried calibrating the printer yet. It is an Artisan 835 and have never gotten the colors right letting PS manage. The only way I can come close is to have the printer manage and tweak the colors.

I tried some tests letting PS manage the colors and I did change the graphic example to the sRGB..... work space we had talked about in the previous posts. The reds/pink hues print out a very dull reddish brown hue. Here are my settings, is this correct?
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