Upgrading to Mavericks?

With the announcement by Apple of their new operating system Mavericks (OS 10.9) - and especially because it's free - and available for upgrade from many older OS's.... it's time to issue our customary warning about upgrading.

We always recommend that people hold off for at least a few days or weeks before upgrading to any new OS release. That just gives some time for the app developers to see what's happening in the final OS release and then come out with an update of their app.

It is tempting to think that since app developers would have access to beta versions of the OS, they should be able to update their software as soon as the OS update comes out. In practice we find that this does not happen in this color management industry. I know of some companies who make a policy of never updating their software until the final release of any new OS update - specifically because they have been burned in the past by (unannounced) last minute changes by Apple.

Concerning CHROMiX software products on Mavericks, we have found no problems.

But for other software, be cautious before you leap, listen to the scuttlebutt around the forums, find out how others are making out on the new OS, see if your favorite apps have updates to handle the new OS, and then make the jump when the water's safe.

Update: X-Rite has found that their XRD software requires an update for compatibility with Mavericks.

You can find out more from this page.

Cadbury loses legal fight over use of colour purple

This is an interesting example of the color trademarking activities we've mentioned in lectures and newsletter articles before.

It appears that both Cadbury and Nestle want to be able to use the color purple for selling candy.

From the color geek point of view it's interesting to note that:

a) the color was specified as Pantone 2865c and
b) Cadbury lost because their "formulation does not comply with the requirements for trademark registration"

Presumably that's color formulation and not chocolate...

Apparently the judge thought that "To allow a registration so lacking in specificity, clarity and precision of visual appearance would offend against the principle of certainty"

I wonder if specifying the color in CIELab would have helped?

We were alerted to the story on the BBC News website but there's a bit more detail on the WSJ website

Simpler is better

We have been doing a lot of work on the client program that aids in the uploading of color data into Maxwell, our online color management system.   Originally called the "ColorShuttle", we have changed its name to simply be the Maxwell "Client".    As our Maxwell business develops, it just seemed unnecessary to have a client application that was named differently than the service it connected to.   Our poor ColorValet Pro customers had to be taught that the service they purchased is ColorValet Pro, the app they use is the ColorShuttle, which talks to the cloud called Maxwell.    Too many names!   Simpler is better.

Even the structure of the new Client is simpler.  You no longer need to make hotfolders for each track if you don't want to,  there's a simpler way to bond to tracks, this Client can automatically route the measurements of targets that are placed into an iSis (for those who have subscribed to this service), and you can now slide your i1Pro in either directions when measuring a chart.

Curve3 is here!

Curve3 is out! Curve3 is the latest version of the calibration software that simplifies the IDEAlliance G7 calibration method for linearizing printing presses and other printers. While we talked about Curve3 in our December newsletter, we came up with so many more features to add that it took longer to finally get it all ready. We think it will prove to be worth the wait!

This new version has advanced smoothing algorithms when inputting data, the ability to linearize special inks besides CMYK, the ability to use the printer's native black as the aim point (useful for some inkjets), the ability to begin with custom values in the initial calibration (making for improved results), improvements to VPR (the Virtual Press Run) module, and a lot of additional analysis and diagnosis functions.  Click here for more details on our website.   Click here for a newsletter article describing the new features.

X-Rite discontinues devices

End of these devices

X-Rite discontinues instruments

Now that the eXact has been released, X-Rite has stopped selling many of their handheld measurement instruments.  In an effort to streamline their products, they are discontinuing many older measurement devices. The new eXact is replacing some of these and some legacy devices will have trade-in value for upgrades.

Already discontinued as of March 30, 2013:
518, 528, DensiEye 700 (most models), SpectroEye LT.

Discontinued June 30, 2013 will be:  530, 530+IntelliTrax bundles, 939, 939M, SpectroEye, SpectroEye+IntelliTrax bundles. X-Rite will continue to provide support and service for 7 years after the discontinuation date.  Here is the link to X-Rite's partial list of discontinued products:

http://www.xrite.com/top_support.aspx?action=discontinued

80,000,000

For some reason, Maxwell does not get mentioned much in our blog. Perhaps it's because Maxwell is the behind-the-scenes color repository that powers many of the other service we provide such as ColorValet, Digital PressWatch, ProofWatch, DisplayWatch. Well, despite a lack of renown, Maxwell has quietly been accumulating more and more measurements as time passes. And the increase in measurements go up as more Maxwell users come on board. As of this month, Maxwell topped eighty million measurements -
80,000,000.

No HCT in i1Profiler

The latest version of i1Profiler (v 1.4.2) has added the ability to make a scanner profile. The workflow supplied by X-Rite requires the user to select from a short list of supported scanner targets. There does not appear to be any way to choose a target that is not in this list, and the HCT scanner targets made by Hutchcolor are not included.

These are very good quality scanning targets, and should be a perfect match for X-Rite's latest software update.  Several people have been asking why the HCT targets are not included and if they will be included in a future release of the software.

According to Don Hutcheson, X-Rite will have to modify the software in order to make it HCT-compatible. Discussions on that subject are under way but there is no official confirmation from X-Rite about when, or if, i1Profiler will make HCT profiles. Those with HCT targets are recommended to use MonacoProfiler or basICColor scan+ to make good quality scanner profiles.

Customers of both of these products should feel free to contact X-Rite about this, and let their needs be known.