Curve4: Now with Maxwell!

Guess what new feature is being added to Curve4?

Long-term color tracking and trending for your entire print organization!

Guess how much that will cost?  

No additional charge for any Curve4 customer!

Bonus question:  How hard will it be to implement?

Two easy setup items in Maxwell and two easy setup items in the new Curve4.

Steve Upton explains the details in this new video.

Color changing car

Welcome to a brand new year - new color technology!

BMW unveiled a color-changing car which uses E-ink, similar to how the Kindle reader screen works. This does not emit light, but reflects light and allows items like ebooks (and this car's color) to be visible in broad daylight. The demo car is limited to a black and white palette, but they claim that the technology can be expanded to include colors. The idea is that you can change the color of your car according to your mood.  

I wonder if you can program it to be "black" to absorb heat when it's cold outside - and white in the summer?

https://twitter.com/Newegg/status/1479181686101671936

https://twitter.com/hashtag/BMWEInk

3D printing to fight CoVid-19

3D printing is being used to create adhesive stickers that can be attached to surgical masks.  The 3D printer lays down nanometric fibers coated with antiseptics – which improves the trapping of nanometric particles and efficiently neutralizes viruses from droplets that might reach the mask.

The project is in a pilot phase at the moment.

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2020/04/nanotech-sticker-to-upgrade-surgical-masks/

Say goodbye to an old friend

i1Pro - Rev A

You knew this day was coming color management geeks.  With the release of its latest version of i1Profler, X-Rite has revealed that its flagship software will no longer support the earliest models of the i1Pro spectrophotometer. 

The i1Pro first came to market in 2001 which is a million years ago in digital imaging years. It has been a stalwart component of the color management toolbox for years.  Even after X-Rite came out with the i1Pro 2 and now the i1Pro 3 & the i1Pro 3 Plus,  there were quite a few of these original units floating around in the industry.   If you still have one of these older i1Pros (Rev A, B, C or D), then know that they will no longer operate on the newest version of i1Profiler: version 3.2 or newer.  

i1Pro 3 Plus instrument from X-Rite

For years this blog has been proudly telling our profiling secrets to all who would listen.  One of the policies that makes for a better profile, for certain papers and fabrics, is the use of polarized measurements.  Our president, Steve Upton, has been hammering on the instrument makers for years to please include polarizing capability into their new instruments.   One company that had seemed deaf to our pleas has been X-Rite.

Turns out, maybe they were listening after all!  X-Rite recently announced a new i1Pro:  The i1Pro 3 Plus.  This model is made specifically to take measurements of textiles and other unusual materials.   Important features include:

- Polarization filter that enables the instrument to take M3 measurements

- A larger, 8mm aperture to get better sampling of fabric patterns

- The instrument can support transmission scanning for backlit film.

- The IO table has been updated to support this new i1Pro 3 Plus, and now enables measuring backlit materials.

The new i1Pro 3 Plus and the new IO table are slated to be available in July, 2019.

X-Rite press release on i1Pro 3 Plus

Print Gamut Ins and Outs

The March/April edition of the SGIA Journal has published an excellent article by Steve Upton:
Print Gamut Ins and Outs

The article is chock-full of interesting bits of info about color gamuts.  Learn what can be done to increase a printer's gamut, what does not work, how different systems like xCMYK & CMYKRGB compare, and get an "insider's view" of how gamut volume calculations are made, all by the creator of ColorThink himself!

Happy Birthday, CHROMiX!

CHROMiX celebrated 20 years as a company by hosting a taste of birthday cake for everyone at the color management conference in San Diego earlier this month.  For those who have never been to this conference, consider going next year - as it's a smaller, more intimate setting where you can learn more about how to improve the color in the print room, the camera, or the display on your desktop.   

Twenty years is actually a long time for a company to be around in the digital color world.  Back when the company started, the Indigo printer was still owned by Benny Landa (before HP), the Apple Studio Display was one of the first LCD displays (a whopping 15") for $1999, and Nikon made a 2.7 megapixel camera that sold for almost $6000!  We have seen a lot of development of the industry over the years and are happy to have had a hand it in.

Profiling Secrets revealed!

Steve Upton, Pat Herold and Rick Hatmaker are gearing up to head to the PIA Color Conference 2019 in San Diego coming up in January 12th to 15th.  Pat will be presenting a session on how to make great profiles. Steve has a couple of sessions on verification & troubleshooting inkjet output, as well as analysis of expanded gamut printing.

CHROMiX will also be providing a 20th Year Birthday Cake during the 3:20 pm afternoon break on Monday the 14th. Come join us if you can!

Last year was a surprisingly great conference in the new location with a lot of new people.   This year promises to be even better!

Color 2019 is back with more than 35 in-depth sessions, featuring four tracks, including Brand & Design, Print Production How-to's, Wide Format Inkjet, and Standards & Research. Whether you're a creative, brand professional, production specialist, or a color management expert, there will be sessions that are well-matched for you at this year's conference. Color 2019 is where you'll find the best, most practical and in-depth information from the best minds in color—and gain knowledge that will strengthen your competitive edge.

Visit www.printing.org/color for more information!

Stan Lee needed G7

As the passing of comic book creator Stan Lee has been in the news lately, we are reminded of the necessity of proper color management.

The original design of The Incredible Hulk had his skin be gray, but a problem with the printing press / ink on the original runs of the comic book caused the gray to look green instead.  If they had used the G7 methodology back in 1962, the Incredible Hulk might be gray today!

Now you can apply your color knowledge to this quiz:

https://www.howtogeek.com/trivia/the-incredible-hulk-was-originally-what-color/

Weevil not be ignored!

"The ultimate aim of research in this field is to figure out how the weevil self-assembles these structures, because with our current technology we are unable to do so," Dr. Saranathan said. "The ability to produce these structures, which are able to provide a high colour fidelity regardless of the angle you view it from, will have applications in any industry which deals with colour production. We can use these structures in cosmetics and other pigmentations to ensure high-fidelity hues, or in digital displays in your phone or tablet which will allow you to view it from any angle and see the same true image without any colour distortion. We can even use them to make reflective cladding for optical fibres to minimise signal loss during transmission."

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-09-colour-generation-mechanism-rainbow-weevil.html#jCp

Photo Credit: Dr. Bodo D. Wilts

Here's a true color geek Halloween costume: the Philippine Snout Weevil.
 
Scientists from Singapore and Switzerland are studying the colors on the Philippine Snout Weevil.  This colorful little guy reproduces all the colors of the rainbow in concentric circles on its body, and does so by varying the size and volume of the scales on its exoskeleton.  No pigments involved!  It is said that human technology has no current means of reproducing this phenomena.  Of particular interest is the way these colors do not change hue when viewed at different angles.

https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/09/in-the-lab/rainbow-weevil-beetle-optics/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smll.201802328

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/explore/weevil-weevil-rock-you/article25067049.ece

"The ultimate aim of research in this field is to figure out how the weevil self-assembles these structures, because with our current technology we are unable to do so," Dr. Saranathan said. "The ability to produce these structures, which are able to provide a high colour fidelity regardless of the angle you view it from, will have applications in any industry which deals with colour production. We can use these structures in cosmetics and other pigmentations to ensure high-fidelity hues, or in digital displays in your phone or tablet which will allow you to view it from any angle and see the same true image without any colour distortion. We can even use them to make reflective cladding for optical fibres to minimise signal loss during transmission."

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-09-colour-generation-mechanism-rainbow-weevil.html#jCp

"The ultimate aim of research in this field is to figure out how the weevil self-assembles these structures, because with our current technology we are unable to do so," Dr. Saranathan said. "The ability to produce these structures, which are able to provide a high colour fidelity regardless of the angle you view it from, will have applications in any industry which deals with colour production. We can use these structures in cosmetics and other pigmentations to ensure high-fidelity hues, or in digital displays in your phone or tablet which will allow you to view it from any angle and see the same true image without any colour distortion."

Award-Winning Curve4

 We have just learned that Curve4 has won a software design award!  The Xojo design awards for 2018 have just been announced at the Xojo Developer's Conference in Denver.  The report is that judging the winners was not easy because of a large number of great entries.

Curve4 received the award for Best Specialty App for 2018!

All of you who marvel at the complex calculations and the powerful new features in Curve4, even while the user interface is easy and intuitive - well... you're not the only ones to be impressed.

Color Management in the Cloud

Steve Upton is interviewed by Cary Sherburne of What They Think on how Maxwell is being used to monitor color within companies and around the world.  He describes how Shutterfly is using the Maxwell solution in photobook printing.

How can you describe all that Maxwell can do in only 3 minutes!?

http://whattheythink.com/video/84193-blending-cloud-services-color-management-increased-efficiency/

EFI and Curve3

Curve3 recently made it into EFI’s official Knowledge Base (their online help resource) with a procedure for G7 calibrations for the Fiery proServer and Fiery XF systems. 

The procedure is a straight-forward "How-To" guide with step-by-step instructions and many good screen illustrations.  CHROMiX and HutchColor both worked with EFI to make this happen. 

EFI’s Knowledge Base link:
G7_and_Curve3_in_Fiery_XF_How-To_Guide.pdf

Barbieri and Maxwell

Maxwell got a nice plug from Barbieri at the recent ISA show in Las Vegas.

Our Maxwell Client works closely with the Barbieri SpectroPad to load tracks onto the instrument and pull off measurements for uploading into Maxwell.

This makes for a great combination: Wireless portability, instant pass/fail reporting,  and connection with the Cloud for tracking color anywhere in the world.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/barbieri-front-center-isa-sal-passanisi

NEC PA2 Displays

We have posted new reviews of the latest generation of NEC displays for high end color work.  The PA242W, PA272W, and PA302W make use of LED's in their backlighting.  

The use of LED's makes for some notable improvements, such as an even larger color gamut than before, more consistency between monitors, better white point rendering, lower power consumption.  Check them out:

•  PA242W Review  24 inch
•  PA272W Review  27 inch
•  PA302W Review  30 inch

 

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.

Calibration on Mars

Here is some interesting reading for the geeks among us who might be curious how one goes about calibrating a camera on Mars: 

• http://www.wired.com/curiosity-mars-rover-cameras/

And here are some details about the calibration target used on the Curiosity:

• http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/?ImageID=3804

Quiz your fellows over the water cooler: How much US currency is on Mars?

Actual pictures from Mars coming to us over the next few weeks & months promise to be high quality, clear and sharp.  Not the sorts of images we're used to seeing from other planets!

i1Profiler is still almost here

The latest report from X-Rite is that the new i1Profiler products are expected to begin shipping around the end of January, 2011.

i1Profiler is almost here

X-Rite is almost ready to release their new i1Profiler software. There has been some confusion over what prices and paths will be available for upgrading.

To make it simple, there are only 3 options to consider for people upgrading:

• i1 Publish New Full (Software Only) $999 This version will be necessary for PMv4.x, MPv3.x, and Stand Alone iSis users

• i1Profiler UPGRADE 'B' for i1Basic Pro, i1Basic, i1Design LT, i1Photo LT, i1Pro OEM $899

• i1Profiler UPGRADE 'A' for ANY full version of ProfileMaker v5, All Monaco Profiler 4.x versions, i1Photo Pro, i1Photo, i1Photo SG, i1Proof, i1XT, i1XTreme $499

X-Rite is not taking away or overwriting any existing i1Pro, i1Match, ProfileMaker or Monaco Profiler dongles. Users get to continue using their legacy solutions if desired. However, X-Rite will probably verify that the original dongle is legitimate, and eligible for upgrade.

Dongle Upgrades, and other notes:
X-Rite will upgrade an i1Pro or ProfileMaker dongle through the i1Profiler software interface. Users will purchase either Upgrade A or Upgrade B as applicable, and when they receive the upgrade, the box will include an activation code . X-Rite will not use the existing upgrade paths in i1Diagnostics or License Tool.

MonacoPROFILER users will have to call an X-Rite Service Center, where X-Rite will verify that their existing dongle is valid. They will then receive their new i1Publish dongle by mail within 5 business days.

As of Friday Nov. 5, X-Rite has confirmed the above information is correct and reflects their new policies. We will post any new or relevant information here as soon as it is confirmed or is official from X-Rite.

Link to the i1Profiler product page:
http://www2.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=50136&pid=10449

Thanks to Rick Hatmaker of CHROMiX for tracking down this information.

New Epson 4900 gets 98% Pantone gamut

Recently announced at Photokina in Germany, the Epson Stylus Pro 4900 has just been launched in the United Kingdom. Apparently it uses 11 UltraChrome HDR inks to provide a gamut that encompases 98% of the Pantone colors. This is pretty impressive. Designers are often wondering why the printer can't match the color they are looking for, and the answer is that it is hard to do! Pantone presses will run up to 16 different inks on press in order to produce all the colors in the Pantone books - that's how wide a gamut these colors encompass. To get this kind of gamut in a single printer would be impressive indeed.
http://www.epson.co.uk/Printers-and-All-In-Ones/Large-Format/Epson-Stylus-Pro-4900

Also announced are the new Stylus Pro 7890 and 9890:
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/epson_stylus_pro_9890_and_7890/