Monaco Optix & EZColor

I've been researching calibration hardware and software. I've found

lots of information about Colorvision's Spyder with Optical/Photocal

and GretagMacbeth's Eye-One Monitor, but very little about Monaco's

products. I was wondering if anyone has experience with Monaco's

Optix sensor and their EZColor software.

Monaco offers these in a bundle which allows monitor, printer and

scanner calibration. Seems like a good deal. Is the Monaco Optix

based on the same Sequel colorimeter technology as the Eye-one

colorimeter? Is it just as good? Does EZColor create good ICC

profiles for scanners and printers?

I shoot mostly Fuji Velvia and Provia and scan with a ACER Scanwit

2720s. I was planning on buying IT8 transparency targets to use with

EZColor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have the Monaco Optix and EZ Color, and they work great. I was deciding between Colorvision and Monaco, and B&H recommended Monaco. They give pretty accurate monitor, scanner and printer profiles, and easy to use. You will need the IT8 transparency target as well. GretagMacbeth's software is more than $1000, more for professional publishers than home users.

One caveat: You will also need a flatbed scanner to do the printer profiles. The Optix will take care of the monitor profiling, but you need a flatbed to scan the printer print out together with the reflective IT8 target.

Two tips that I learned maybe you already knew:

1. Set the monitor background to a neutral color before you do the monitor profile.

2. Set the printer gama to its max when you do printing and printer profiling.

Enjoy!

Shawn: I use the Monaco Optix colorimeter and their EZColor software and, while I can't compare them to other products such as Colorvision's, I can say that they work very well on my setup. I use a Nikon film scanner, an Epson flatbed scanner (which I purchased primarily to use with the EZColor software, and an Epson 2200 printer. (Epson and Monaco evidently have a partnering arrangement.)

Once you get the hang of it, it doesn't take any time at all to profile the monitor and the scanner and printer. The software allows you to edit the printer profiles, but I have found them to be very accurate (on Epson papers) without any further editing.

You can use the software without the Optix colorimeter, although I don't know if that would produce a noticeably less accurate monitor profile. For me, the software and the colorimeter have been a worthwhile investment -- they seem to work exactly as advertised and consistently produce good results.

I really have to wonder just how the scanner-based solutions differ.

I bought a copy of Profile Prism recently. It was something like $80 with an IT8 target. The results from PP, however, are quite similar to those from LittleCMS, a freeware open-source profile generator, which are undoubtedly quite similar to those of Monaco. If you have an IT8 (or care to purchase one; they're usually $15-$40), you don't necessarily have to spend $300 or whatever on Monaco's software.

http://www.littlecms.com/

I'm of the opinion that the quirks of a quality Trinitron monitor can be corrected reasonably well with Adobe Gamma. Try it before you drop a great deal of money on an optical calibrator. Your standards may not require such accuracy.

DI

I have to contribute a very strong negative on Monaco and the EZcolor/optix system.

I have a very standard setup: windows 2000, 1280, and a new Epson 3200. The colors with the canned profiles and photoshop 7 were okay, but not great, so I bought the Monaco EZcolor2 bundle at Hunt's for $380.00

Using Epson premium luster and Epson inks, the package generated truly unusable profiles with a strong magenta tint. After two weeks of working on this by myself, which consisted of

1- Complete reinstall of printer, scanner, and software

2. Swapping out monitor

3. Reinstall of windows 2000 for Windows XP for windows 2000 again

4. Driving the 1280 from parallel and USB

5. using the 1280 drivers that came with the printer and the updates from Epson's web site

6. Installing an HP 7150 and profiling that with HP papers

7. using photoshop and using Monaco Colorworks (ie their own software as well as photoshop)

I still have prints with a strong magenta cast that are far far worse than the prints obtained with the original software. The prints that print with "film factory" and "HP director" look pretty good, but not perfect. The prints with photoshop 7 and "printer color management" look okay, but not perfect. The prints with EZcolors profiles? Unusable. Bummer.

I have uploaded a jpeg with an illustration of the problem. No, it is not double-profiled.

I emailed back and forth with Alicia at monaco, and sent her my profiles, and a scan of and original picture and a printout, as well as the test target printouts and the test target scans, and the only responses I got were suggestions to try a different photoshop workflow, which was a pretty dumb suggestion, because (a) soft proofing should work and (b) the problem existed when printing with colorworks, Monaco's own bundled print package. I tried a profile that a colleague had generated using XP, EZcolor, and a 1280, and it didn't work either.

I evetually called and spoke to Jim, who insisted on addressing me as Jim even though I told him my name was Bill and reminded him of that several times. He told me the problem was with my system and not with Monaco. I asked him how the exact same problem could arise in two printers from two different manufacturers, under two different operating systems, and only when using Monaco's profiles, but not when using the manufacturer's own software and profiles, and it be traceable to my system, and not EZcolor. He said he didn't know, but it wasn't Monaco's problem. he also added that i couldn't expect good results with an entry-level product. He got quite excited when I told him that someone else's profiles didn't work on my system, and claimed that that showed it was my system and not Monaco's problem. He eventually offered me an RMA number, but when I told him I had bought it at Hunt's he asked me to throw away the RMA number and told me I had to work with Hunt's, and he had nothing to do with it.

We settled that I would send my profile to my colleague and have him try it on his system, even though I protested that I was reluctant to inconvenience someone who had offered me some assistance. I did so, and he reported similar results. I forwarded his email to Monaco on 11/14, and have since called their tech support number four times and left messages and have sent four emails, and have heard nothing, not even a "we're working on it".

Jaret at WB Hunt's claims he cannot accept a return on an opened software package unless the manufacturer has authorized it as return of defective merchandise.

In short, the Monaco EZColor bundle significantly underperformed the canned profiles, and Monaco's tech support has been limited to telling me that it is my fault, and then when challenged on that, the silent treatment. I spent a significant amount of time uploading sample images, profiles, test prints, and so on, and I haven't heard anything from them that is more specific or helpful than "we think it is a problem with your printer".

There is a thread at Nature Photographers' Net on the subject:

http://forums.naturephotographers.net/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=8306088241&f=1286003941&m=88010283

So, I am out the $380.00, and an additional $100 in printing supplies (I went through 50 sheets of premium luster and two ink cartridges) and there doesn't seem to be any inkling of support from Monaco. Hunt's isn't being helpful either, but, then, they may well be stuck in the middle-- they would need to return the package to Monaco themselves, and that seems far from guaranteed.

That's my experience. Others have had good luck, and that's why I went with Monaco. I am stuck with a nonworking product and a manufacturers tech support that's not answering my phone calls or returning my emails. I don't think I've been unreasonable-- in fact I went way out of my way to try to find faults wiht my own system (2 monitors, two operating systems, two different driver sets, two different printers) before I even called them. All I would like is to be able to return the product now.

So-- Caveat emptor. I bought something that came well-recommended, spent more than four or five custom profiles would have cost, and have nothing but wasted time to show for it.

Good luck,

Bill<div></div>

Bill, for that kind of money, I'd have bought a copy of ImagePrint.

Either way, I imagine someone else has had your problem. If you can find their query, perhaps you can also find an answer.

DI

Hi, y'all,

I thought I would add that within 24 hours of my post on this forum, Monaco offered to refund my money. I don't know if it because of this or because Hunt's leaned on 'em, but Hunt's was (recently) very reposnsive, calling me with updates on the situation, and eventually telling me that monaco had agreed to accept the return.

Now I just need a printer calbration tool that...

...

works.

Bill

Thanks for the informaion Bill. I have been having my own fun with the EzColor package. I have talk with the customer support, and I all I can say is that they were not much better help then my house builder. Unfortunately, I still have my prints coming out with green cast. I guess I will continual pluging away, seeing if I can get things working, whenever I have time.

The one interesting thing I have experienced with my printing, in ColorWorks, I can good matches, but in Photoshop 7.0 I don't.

Any input will greatly help.

Shawn

Hi, Shawn,

maybe between your cyan cast and my magenta cast, we can find someone with a yellow cast and get a good print.

I really can't help you, other than to say that after trying several different papers I was able to find one (ilford) that seemed to do almost okay-- but the monaco result wasn't even as good as the canned profile.

Bill