The new soft-proofing profile is available for download. After downloading it, you should go back to the original articles and replace the references to the profiles with this one. The earlier articles did not include links to any profile but MagCloud had allowed me to share them with anyone who wanted to use them. This should make the series of articles on this subject more complete and useful.

X-Rite ColorMunki Photo

I am amazed that many photographers, far too many of them work on a monitor with no calibration, no profiling and get surprised when they do not achieve the expected colors from their prints. I have made quite a few presentations on digital workflow, and have been preaching the importance of color management starting with the display monitor calibration and profiling. The importance of a calibrated and properly profiled display monitor cannot be overemphasized.  It is a must, period. The rest of the color-manged workflow depends on it.

I have been using a Monaco Optix-XR display calibration device that I acquired about 8-9 years ago; it was one of the better devices then. It served me well over the years until I upgraded my computer about a month ago, and its OS to Windows 7. The old software, which had not been updated for many years after X-Rite acquired Monaco, did not install on Windows 7 64-Bit OS. A replacement was clearly necessary, not for compatibility reasons only but also the availability of newer and better technology.

I sought advice from Brenda, the knowledgeable and helpful rep of X-Rite as to which one of their products would suit my needs the best. X-Rite makes close to 10 different models with a wide range of capabilities and prices and I considered i1Display series and the ColorMunki. She recommended X-Rite ColorMunki Photo (yes, it sounds a bit hokey to me too) and demoed one on my computer. I was sold on the spot. The process could not be simpler, it’s so simple a Munki can do it (sorry for the pun!)

Install the software first; it will probably take longer than the actual display calibration. Then plug in the CM (no more Munki-ing around with the long names) to an available USB port, which will trigger the installation of the hardware device driver. After it says your hardware is ready to use, start the Photo software. From this point on, it is a matter of following the on-screen instructions which even show a picture of the device with the correct dial setting and informs the user when it is set correctly or incorrectly. (There is one part that is not so foolproof as this fool was tripped by it. You need to open the sliding sensor cover at the bottom otherwise you will go through the entire process only to end up with an error message. I wish there was a hardware or software indicator that the cover was closed. But it is a very, very minor issue and I will most likely not make that mistake again.)

During the initial phases of the calibration process you will need access to the brightness and contrast controls of your display, acquaint yourself with those buttons; they are usually very hard to find and their labels are practically impossible to read. At least my monitor’s controls are. While making the adjustment on contrast or brightness as instructed by your loyal Munki software, go in small steps as it takes it a moment or two to read the new levels. After these are done, it will go through displaying and reading a series of colors on the screen and tell you that it is finished. At this point, you need to save the created profile. It suggests a name, which is fine to use. I prefer to add my monitor brand and the date of calibration to the file name so my profile names look like:

Ekin_Samsung_100704

but any name will do. I’m from the old school of computing and try to put as much information in to the file name as I can within reason. It’s a habit I developed in the days of CP/M and MS-DOS! (What do you mean you don’t know what they are?)

The next step is a visual comparison of Before-After with noticeably better After view. You will be pleased when you see the results. I have not yet even mentioned that it can profile substrates for printers with ease and is a color picker from any surface that you can touch with this Munki’s foot. Other utilities included in the package will be quite useful to people who need to decide on color combinations like on a Web site, or a magazine layout. On their Web site they offer training materials, brochures, and other information that will help the user get the most out of this product.

I love this Munki and highly recommend that you get one at your earliest convenience. They are easy to train, once you learn how to remove their “eye-patch!”

Apple iPad

Apple introduced with the usual fanfare its new entry to the market: iPad. Many have started test-drooling over the pictures and Job’s cool presentation. Others, like me, see it as a stretched iPod Touch, which it is. I have read on various blogs “imagine taking your photography portfolio to a gallery on an iPad” and similar comments. Frankly, I think that will emphasize the technology of the presentation rather than the art in the photographs. After all, iPad will not be hanging on the wall, a beautiful print will.

One potential use of iPad highly interests me and I believe it will be the killer app for iPad. Add two features for photographers and it will start selling like hot cakes. First, add a CompactFlash and an SD card reader. This will make it irresistible to photographers. Imagine being able to store and back up your photos in the field and see them on a 10″ screen for field proofing. Second, put an application on iPad that allows it to directly tether to the DSLRs which will make it indispensable to the same crowd. Think about it, you are looking at a 10″ screen to preview your photograph while controlling the camera features from the same screen. You can do the same now but you need a laptop for that which is larger and bulkier. Until then, iPad will remain an oversize iPod Touch.

Are you listening Acer, HP, Dell, Asus, …?

… imagine the next generation of cameras that, by using more powerful on-board computers, could converge computing and photography. As I write this piece, researchers are busy working on various experiments, experimental cameras that are collectively called “computational photography.” Where there is now some time and space separation between the taking of the photographs and later processing on a separate computers, the new generation of cameras will likely merge these separate activities into one device.

These cameras that bring discrete steps together into a seamless process will bring some very exciting capabilities to photography. Imagine the following:

• A camera that can record scenes with 10-12 f-stop brightness range, maybe even more
• A lens that captures an image with information that comes from three separate points and can generate a 3D rendering of the subject that can be seen from different angles
• A camera that allows photographing a scene and later deciding on the plane of focus
• A camera that captures 360 degree horizontal field of view and 200+ degree vertical
• A camera that captures a group photograph where everyone’s expression is as desired, no closed eyes

Now, imagine that these are not some fancy of my imagination and they actually exist!

And you thought the digital-vs-film debate was heated…