Spanking The Monkey

[D. Bryant]

I'm hoping there may be some users of Xrite's new ColorMunki product that can comment on it.

Does the product really do what it is advertised to do? I've read some reviews of the product but there seems to be some questions about the software. Also there maybe some difference between the Mac and PC versions.

For the price the product seems to be a good value if it really works.

Thanks,

Don Bryant

[Kirk Gittings]

Do a search on Luminous Landscape. There has been a fair amount of discussion there.

[Peter Mounier]

I've been wondering the same thing for awhile, so I've kept my ears open. I've heard some good things and not so good things. Mainly that it's nice and compact and fast and makes good monitor profiles, but the printer profiles are nothing to brag about.
On the other hand, I've heard nothing but good things about Data Color's Spyder 3 Studio
http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-pp-s3studio.php

It costs a little bit more, but is it worth it?

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who can compare the two systems.

Peter

[D. Bryant]

Do a search on Luminous Landscape. There has been a fair amount of discussion there.

Thanks Kirk, but I had already read through the LL threads on Color Munki. After reading everything I can find on the internet I'm still left with an indefinite opinion about the product and about xRite.

I have the Monaco ezColor kit which I use primarily for profiling my monitor. Anyone familiar with the package knows that ezColor is limited in it's ability to make really good printer profiles and Monaco adds their own vendor specific data in the ICC file which makes it difficult or impossible to use in some applications. Using Monaco to produce a printer profile is better than no profile though. Unfortunately xRite has decided to abandon support and development of the product a long time ago, not to mention that it won't work on Windows Vista workstations.

The xRite colorimeter for monitor profiling is quite good and is one of the reasons I actually purchased the product since I purchased it new at a highly discounted price.

So I'm a little wary of xRite's long term commitment to CM seeing what happened to the Monaco product line for a mid or entry level color management tool.

I think Keith Cooper's article on the package to be ambiguous while Andrew Rodney seems to think that the profiles are very good but the software is shakey.

For now I'll just watch, wait, and think about my options.

Thanks,

Don Bryant

[aphexafx]

Yeah, I'm coughing this up. I am now in Don Bryant's position when this thread was born.

I was wondering if any of you have learned anything about, or used, etc. the ColorMunki system/product/what-have-you...???

I mean...it looks great on the surface, but then I hear negative things, but then it seems like some people just have a vendetta towards not-thier-favorite-colorimiter, etc... :rolleyes:

The most recent opinions that I've read are that it works very well, increases shadow detail in matte prints (something that matters to me), and is very easy to use...unless the software falls apart on your system...

[aphexafx]

...increases shadow detail in matte prints (something that matters to me)...

...of course, what I meant is that it helps generate printer profiles for matte papers with better behavior in shadow regions in that they better match the file as perceived (and adjusted for) on-screen...been having trouble with that using Ultrachrome K3 pigments...so between that and general standard color registration, my taste-buds are perked a bit...for the price...yeah.