View Full Version : PrintFix Pro
I've got ColorVision PrintFix Pro in for review - does anyone already use this? It consists of a Spyder 2 monitor calibrator and a PrintFix colorimiter for analysing printer output and creating custom ICC/ICM profiles.
It's much less expensive than a Spectrophotometer-based solution, like Gretag Macbeth's EyeOne Pro, for example - so it should be interesting to see how it compares :)
Ian
I've just finally got around to getting a Spyder 2. It's taken me long enough!
Trouble is, when I was looking around there are so many different types - from Hueys to Eye-Ones, from Spyder Express to Spyder 2 Pro. And checking out reviews is useless. Everyone either dislikes one and likes the other or likes one but dislikes the other.
Which one I bought was based pretty much on "I've heard of Spyder, so Spyder2 must be better, I'm not getting the cheapest, can't afford the most expensive, what am I left with..?" Very professional - not!
Gawd knows what I'm going to do with it when it arrives. :D
Anyway, it's the "Spyder 2 Suite" from Dabs.com - which includes "PrintFix Plus", whatever that is. Got it for £116 including postage (had a voucher for a tenner off). Is that good value? I don't know...
The minefield of colour management awaits my blundering footsteps... :eek:
Mick Johnson
24-11-06, 08:28 PM
Our camera club has both the Spyder2 and the Printfix.
I do, and most other members use the Spyder2 which is very good especially when we have a digital image competition as all the images, from a lot of members, are more or less perfect.
The Printfix however I found no good at all and I've never seen a good review for it yet.
The only time you would use it is probabaly when using a cheap paper that has no profile for download.
Most, if not all printers now come with paper profiles on the installation cd or are available for download so no need for a custom profiler... providing of course you are using the same brand paper as the printer.
PrintFix Plus should not be confused with PrintFix Pro. The former does not involve using a calibrator to measure test patches from your printer to generate an ICC profile, but by comparing off the shelf data for known printer and paper combinations measured by Datacolor.
There have been some good reviews for PrintFix Plus - it's virtually free and does a better job than, say, Adobe Gamma, but it has its limitations.
I have PrintFix Pro here for testing, but have not yet got around to looking at it so far.
Ian
Mick Johnson
24-11-06, 10:35 PM
Don't know which we have but it does have a very small scanner that scans a test print.
It was purchased as a package with the Spyder2.
Don't know which we have but it does have a very small scanner that scans a test print.
It was purchased as a package with the Spyder2.
The original PrintFix package had a poor quality scanner that resembled a business card scanner. The PrintFix Pro colorimiter is a lhand held arger beast and scans a larger printed patch chart.
Ian
Mick Johnson
24-11-06, 10:45 PM
The original PrintFix package had a poor quality scanner that resembled a business card scanner. The PrintFix Pro colorimiter is a lhand held arger beast and scans a larger printed patch chart.
Ian
Poor quality scanner? that's the one.
Patrick
24-11-06, 10:56 PM
I've got ColorVision PrintFix Pro in for review - does anyone already use this? It consists of a Spyder 2 monitor calibrator and a PrintFix colorimiter for analysing printer output and creating custom ICC/ICM profiles.
It's much less expensive than a Spectrophotometer-based solution, like Gretag Macbeth's EyeOne Pro, for example - so it should be interesting to see how it compares :)
Ian
Yes Ian as you may remember I bought one at Focus earlier this year, Excellent results very good profiles produced from it, even better than ones I had professionally written for me.
I own it jointly with another club member and we have been profiling members screens and writing print profiles at a nominal charge for other club members all happy bunnies to date.
Patrick
I've been browsing the 'net for info on this PrintFix Plus. It seems that most reviews of it consider that it's worth about as much as a box of cornflakes... ...if it came free with a box of cornflakes! :D
So, the question is, is the "Spyder2 Suite" better than "Spyder2 Express" - or should I have gone with the cheaper one? *sob
:clueless: <- that's me! :eek:
Mick Johnson
24-11-06, 11:37 PM
I've been browsing the 'net for info on this PrintFix Plus. It seems that most reviews of it consider that it's worth about as much as a box of cornflakes... ...if it came free with a box of cornflakes! :D
So, the question is, is the "Spyder2 Suite" better than "Spyder2 Express" - or should I have gone with the cheaper one? *sob
:clueless: <- that's me! :eek:
You must of read the same reviews as me then.:D
Our 'Printfix' is maybe 2 years old so it might be better now, I don't know.
If you use the same make of paper as your printer then it's totally useless and a waste of cash as the profiles are available from the manufacturer and will certainly be much more accurate than the printfix.
The 'Spyder2 express' is the same colorimeter as the 'Spyder2 pro' I believe so I think is well worth buying.
The Suite software is good because you are afforded more control, especially of the gamma, of the monitor settings during the calibration. The Express software basically profiles the monitor as it is, with minimal hardware calibration.
Keith Cooper at Northlight Images knows his stuff and has reviewed PrintFix Plus (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/printfix_plus.html) and Pro and he's not dismissive of Plus at all.
Ian
You must of read the same reviews as me then.:D
Our 'Printfix' is maybe 2 years old so it might be better now, I don't know.
If you use the same make of paper as your printer then it's totally useless and a waste of cash as the profiles are available from the manufacturer and will certainly be much more accurate than the printfix.
The 'Spyder2 express' is the same colorimeter as the 'Spyder2 pro' I believe so I think is well worth buying.
With my R1800, I've only used papers that have profiles supplied so far. That's either meant Epson themselves or Olmec. (I've only just recently ventured into Olmec's range thanks to their cheaper roll paper.)
I didn't buy the package with a view to using the Printfix Plus jobby, but it did pique my curiosity. I have a 1290S that I use with sublimation inks - again, a profile is supplied, but I just wondered if I could in someway use the Printfix Plus to optimise it. The profile comes with the ink, but when you transfer to other substrates (from mugs to t-shirts), the colours vary depending on what you're pressing to.
I'm probably barking up completely the wrong tree here. My main priority is to get my monitor more accurately profiled. It came with it's own profile, too, but it's a good few months old now so I'm keen to see if the Spyder 2 will help me at all with that.
I found a chart on this page: http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/spyder2pro.html which compares all three Spyder2 products (Express, Suite and Pro). The hardware would seem to be the same but the software in the Suite and Pro would seem to offer more options. Until the Spyder2 arrives and I have a go with it, it all sounds a bit like gobbledegook to me. ;)
Mick Johnson
24-11-06, 11:48 PM
The Suite software is good because you are afforded more control, especially of the gamma, of the monitor settings during the calibration. The Express software basically profiles the monitor as it is, with minimal hardware calibration.
Keith Cooper at Northlight Images knows his stuff and has reviewed PrintFix Plus (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/printfix_plus.html) and Pro and he's not dismissive of Plus at all.
Ian
Funny, I just read that review 10 mins ago.
That is not the scanner we have btw.
The Suite software is good because you are afforded more control, especially of the gamma, of the monitor settings during the calibration. The Express software basically profiles the monitor as it is, with minimal hardware calibration.
Keith Cooper at Northlight Images knows his stuff and has reviewed PrintFix Plus (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/printfix_plus.html) and Pro and he's not dismissive of Plus at all.
Ian
I've just started reading the reviews on that website, so I'll get to the PrintFix one shortly. Given that the "Printfix Pro" costs about £400 on a site I stumbled across and the "Printfix Plus" is virtually given away free, my hopes are not high. :D
With my R1800, I've only used papers that have profiles supplied so far. That's either meant Epson themselves or Olmec. (I've only just recently ventured into Olmec's range thanks to their cheaper roll paper.)
I didn't buy the package with a view to using the Printfix Plus jobby, but it did pique my curiosity. I have a 1290S that I use with sublimation inks - again, a profile is supplied, but I just wondered if I could in someway use the Printfix Plus to optimise it. The profile comes with the ink, but when you transfer to other substrates (from mugs to t-shirts), the colours vary depending on what you're pressing to.
I'm probably barking up completely the wrong tree here. My main priority is to get my monitor more accurately profiled. It came with it's own profile, too, but it's a good few months old now so I'm keen to see if the Spyder 2 will help me at all with that.
I found a chart on this page: http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/spyder2pro.html which compares all three Spyder2 products (Express, Suite and Pro). The hardware would seem to be the same but the software in the Suite and Pro would seem to offer more options. Until the Spyder2 arrives and I have a go with it, it all sounds a bit like gobbledegook to me. ;)
Yes, the Spyder2 colorimeter is the same in all three packages and you get one in the PrintFix Pro package as well.
The difference is only the software. The more sophisticated software helps you to adjust the separate colour gun levels (if possible with your monitor) and to achieve optimal brightness and contrast. The Express software still generates a profile, but does not help you to set up the monitor.
If DataColor haven't profiled your special inks then PrintFix Plus will not be of any use - it's only relevant to printer model/ink and paper type combinations they have on their database.
Ian
If DataColor haven't profiled your special inks then PrintFix Plus will not be of any use - it's only relevant to printer model/ink and paper type combinations they have on their database.
Ian
I'll take that as a "no", then! :D
This is going to sound a bit dim, but my R1800 comes with its own profiles for its own inks used with its own paper. The R1800 is on Datacolor's "list". If I can only use the Printfix Plus with a printer/ink/paper combination that Datacolor have profiled, what's the point of it? Why would I want PrintFix Plus to profile a printer that already comes with profiles?
I'm trying to wrap my head around all of this profiles stuff. Let me get this straight - PrintFix Plus lets you profile the printer, but only if DataColor have already profiled it, and they profile printers that already ship with profiles? Can anyone say "huh?".
If you can't use it to profile combinations that haven't previously been profiled, then what's the point of it exactly? Surely the only combinations you're going to want to profile are those that haven't already been profiled. Or does that just sound silly?