Monaco ez color + Optix

[pascal_b.]

HI there

 

I have a film scanner multi pro from Minolta and an Epson 2200. I was

planning to calibrate my monitor and/with the rest of the chain and

was planning to buy the monaco ez color bundle (monaco ez + optix).

Will I need to also get an IT8 card? That card seems to exist only for

35mm or 4X5. Which one should I look at?

According to some contributors, a flatbed scanner is also needed at

some point in the process. Surely this might put me off any

calibration attempt.

Can somebody sum up the exact equipment I need to calibrate monitor

with scanner with printer please?

Thanks very much for help

P.

[help_desk]

Monaco EZcolor requires the use of a flatbed scanner to build printer profiles. There's

no way around this limitation because the scanner is used in lieu of a

spectrophotometer. You can still build film scanner profiles and monitor profiles

without the flatbed, however. <BR><BR>

 

As far as IT8 targets go, don't bother buying a 4x5 if you can find a 35mm of the

same film type (save yourself $50). The size of the film has no effect on profile quality

- it's the film characteristics you're profiling. EZcolor used to support only Kodak

transparency IT8s, but there was word of Fuji support awhile back. You should check

with them first to see what brands are supported.<BR><BR>

 

Good luck.<BR>

Mike<BR>

<A HREF="http://www.independentcolor.com?pn">www.independentcolor.com</A>

[william_yu]

Pascal:

 

Exactly just as Mike has said. If you plan to print just on Epson papers, you can get the printer/paper profiles from Epson. But for glossy prints, the better paper than the Epson premium glossy paper is the Pictorico High Gloss White Film, which you will need to buy a flatbed scanner to work with your EZ Color to create a custom profile. Flatbeds are inexpensive these days.

[mattb1]

When you do start to build your printer profile, a word of warning is to let the prints from your printer COMPLETELY dry before scanning them. Wait a least a couple of hours if not overnight. Ink jet prints color shift during the drying process, and you don't want to profile them until the ink is in the 'final' state.

 

I have the Monaco system and have been frustrated because of this issue, the software kind of leads you to believe that you need to scan right after printing the target. Which I tried several times before someone on this forum pointed out the drying issue... I think you can print several targets, on your different papers, at one time by just going back and forth through the process. Not sure if its easy to then re-use these targets latter with out re-printing, I haven't tried this in a couple of months so I can't remember...

 

Unfortunately, using this system hasn't lived up to expectations for me. Probably because of the ink drying issue, the times I've tried it I haven't had great results. I get better results using generic printer profiles right now, but that could be because I have an error in the way I'm doing things. So the moral of the story could either be have realistic expectations or make sure you need a profiling system before wasting the time and money.

 

I still hope to get it working, mostly because I would like to send out large print jobs with out having to pay for them to do the color adjustments...