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spectrophotometer - any good for CMYK?

robsonr

New Member
Hi everybody,

I was thinking of getting a spectrophotometer for my wide format printer and I understand that it suppose to support CMYK, but I'm not sure whether the support is done on software level or hardware level and therefore I don't know if any of those would be any good to be used for a printer profile creation.

If anybody knows those devices bellow, please let me know whether they would be suitable for my purpose. Thank you.

Option 1) Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Proof UV PHOTO
Option 2) EFI Color profiler suite with ES-1000 spectrophotometer UV cut
 

robsonr

New Member
Apparently there suppose to be two versions of Eye-one spectrophotometer - emissive only and full version which can read printed output. How do I know which version of device it is?
 

BPI Color

New Member
If you want accurate color, you have to have a spectrophotometer in conjunction with a RIP capable of producing custom profiles. Yes, this tool will help you get accurate CMYK values. That particular sub-process of profiling is called linearization. I use the I-One strip reader in conjunction with Onyx 7.3.2.
Make sure you can at least read strips. I have a printer that uses almost 2500 swatches for the final profile step. Imagine entering each value singly. Not a pretty picture, eh!
 
Hi everybody,

I was thinking of getting a spectrophotometer for my wide format printer and I understand that it suppose to support CMYK, but I'm not sure whether the support is done on software level or hardware level and therefore I don't know if any of those would be any good to be used for a printer profile creation.

If anybody knows those devices bellow, please let me know whether they would be suitable for my purpose. Thank you.

Option 1) Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Proof UV PHOTO
Option 2) EFI Color profiler suite with ES-1000 spectrophotometer UV cut


The EFI ES-1000 is a rebranded X-Rite/ Gretag Macbeth i1-Professional. Be sure that the spectro you acquire is supported by your RIP software.

The i1Pro is available with or without an onboard UV filter (UV Cut) for the same price point.
 

SightLine

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I1, Eye 1, Eye One are all the same device. There are obviously different packages though and the UV model includes a UV filter. I've personally only used the Eye One Pro (Basic package) which does work great with FlexiSign and can also profile our monitors.

Not sure of the differences in the assorted packages but which package you need depends on what all you plan on profiling as well as if your RIP has profiling built in. We run Flexi Pro which does have built in profiling and supports an Eye One (as well as a few others). In this scanario you only need the Eye One Basic (really just the Eye One device itself) as Flexi generates the linearization charts and pages of colors to scan in as well as the actual profile creation. Used properly and very importantly setting the ink limits right your custom profiles work orders of magnitude better than any of the canned profiles.

However if your RIP does not have profile creation built in then you would need one of the packages that has the profile creation software included with the Eye One.
 

signswi

New Member
What is the difference between X-Rite I1 Publish pro and Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Proof UV PHOTO?

The i1 publish pro is in the newest line from x-rite, the gretag macbeth i1 proof uv photo is a slightly older rebranded x-rite model being sold with a removable uv filter (which they just about all come with now I think, check though).
 
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