It's time to stop using the Kelvin scale for display calibration

The Kelvin scale has always been relatively simple to understand in the context of display calibration. Choose a higher value and your display white point will be bluer; choose a lower value and it will be yellower, etc. But this is where the simplicity stops and the confusion begins. What do we do if the white point appears to be magenta or greenish? And why doesn’t the display calibration Kelvin value correlate with the value of our lighting? In other words, why does calibrating to ~5700 Kelvin match 4100 Kelvin lights? Why can’t we calibrate to 4100K to match 4100K lights? So…


i1Pro3 spectrophotometer

XRite i1Pro3 (standard aperture) review

The new i1Pro3 “Swiss Army Knife” of spectrophotometers XRIte announced the i1Pro3 spectrophotometer and released i1Profiler 3.2 which supports it. This is the standard aperture i1Pro, not to be confused with the large aperture i1Pro3plus. The i1Pro2 was the Swiss Army Knife of spectrophotometers and the best selling of all time. The i1Pro3 is a worthy successor with a variety of refinements, most notably: Combined MO, M1 and M2 measurements in a single pass, thanks to a new full-spectrum LED light source. Significantly improved strip reading Support for smaller patches than the…


XRite i1Pro3plus (large aperture) review

XRite brings back polarized, transmissive and large aperture measurements with the i1Pro3plus spectrophotometer. Quick overview The i1Pro3plus spectrophotometer contains a new LED illuminant that allows for simultaneous M0, M1, M2 measurement in a single pass. The large 8mm aperture (vs the i1Pro2’s 3.5mm) translates into rich, extreme shadow measurements and averaging of uneven surfaces and large dot patterns. Polarized M3 measurements mean smoother shadow tonality and improved deep color saturation on textured surfaces like glossy canvas. Transmissive scanning allows us to measure…


Celebrating 25 Years

25+ years ago I was splitting my time between a job where I was a scanner operator and an apprenticeship with a master printmaker. In the printmaking studio we were making large digital negatives on an imagesetter and using them to make hand-coated platinum/palladium prints in a wet darkroom. Back then everyone was using Photoshop 2 and had CRT monitors. While the color scans coming off the Leaf45 seemed pretty decent after a little color correction in curves, I was frustrated with how different the handmade B&W platinum palladium prints looked in comparison to the same images onscreen.…


What my days look like as a consultant

I thought I’d show everyone what my days often look like as a consultant. For 20 years, I’ve traveled around working with people in their studios on issues like color management, workflow, and print quality. A lot of the time this means working on big printers like these. HP Latex printers at New Era Portfolio In addition to common aqueous inkjet printers, I spend a lot of my time working on UV Curable, Solvent, Latex and sublimation printers from companies like Vutek, HP, Epson, Gandhi, Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, Inca and others. Last week I visited 3 clients in 3 cities including one of my…


Celebrating 20 Years of Color Management Consulting

20+ years ago I was splitting my time between a job where I was a Leaf45 scanner operator and an apprenticeship with a master printmaker. In the printmaking studio we were making large digital negatives on an imagesetter and using them to make hand-coated platinum/palladium prints in a wet darkroom. Back then everyone was using Photoshop 2 and had CRT monitors. While the color scans coming off the Leaf45 seemed pretty decent after a little color correction in curves, I was frustrated with how different the handmade B&W platinum palladium prints looked in comparison to the same images…


i1Pro 2 "Raven" Review

I have been testing the new i1Pro 2 (codenamed "Raven") since May of last year. Xrite's spectrophotometers have evolved considerably since the original i1Pro, so with this next generation device they've completely redesigned it from the inside out, and all of the accessories that go with it. It's a versatile, handheld device that has a lot of advantages over it's predecessor. With dual light-sources, the i1Pro2 is capable of taking measurements with or without UV information. i1Pro People will particularly love using the new LCD display adapter with it's comfy beanbag counterweight. The…


Using i1Profiler for QTR grayscale measurement and profiling

Recently I wrote an article on "Using ColorPort for QTR grayscale measurement and profiling." Today I'd like to talk about using i1Profiler v1.3 for QTR grayscale measurement and profiling. I've been using i1Profiler's new "Measure Reference Chart" feature and the new i1Pro2 "Raven" device for a year and now that it's officially released I can tell you about it. i1Profiler is XRite's new professional level application that anyone can download for free at XRite.com. While some of the features require a purchase or dongle, the "Measure Reference Chart" feature that we will use for this doesn't…