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X-Rite ColorMunki Photo - Review

Colour management made easy? - The ColorMunki Photo

The X-Rite ColorMunki has just been announced [X-Rite], and since we've been helping with some of the testing we've got a short review of some of its main features.

The (approx. $500) ColorMunki device and software allows you to profile your monitor and printers (and data projectors too). You can also make spot colour measurements.

The ColorMunki range (Mac and PC) is firmly aimed at the large majority of users who might find some of the kit I've reviewed elsewhere a little daunting for their own requirements.

Topics Colour management What do you get Monitor calibration Projector profiling Printer profiling Spot colour measurement Conclusions Summary More info The What's New Page gives a quick overview of the hundreds of pages of articles and picture on this site. This page is part of the Reviews feature in our Articles and info section

Colour management for everyone?

If you take pictures and get them printed (by yourself or by a lab) then the first thing you need to sort out is getting your monitor calibrated.

After that, if you do your own printing, then custom icc printer profiles will usually improve your print quality.

(If you move your mouse over the box image above, you'll see the contents...)

I sometimes see people on forums say it's not really needed. If you value the quality (and consistency) of your final results then this is just plain wrong.

What's not quite so obvious for me (who writes and teaches about the subject) is that a lot of people find colour management really tricky. [It's not! just some people try and make it sound a lot more complex than it needs to be]

X-Rite have looked at this large market, and in the first big new development since their take over of Gretagmacbeth, have produced a new 'all-in-one' device, the ColorMunki.

This is a multipurpose spectrophotometer, based on i1 technology (see the links at the end of this piece, for all our reviews of all the various i1 options.

• Note for more technical readers ;-) ... It is a UV Cut version of the spectrophotometer, with the light source based on the iSis

It is aimed squarely at all those, who in the past, perhaps found the idea of colour management just a bit too much.

BTW, Just in case you are still wondering just what this 'Colour management' stuff is, I've a very short guide to colour management page that might be of help - it includes links to other articles on this site and elsewhere. There are also links to further information at the end of this article.

There is more information available from X-Rite (warning - turn down the sound on your computer first! ;-)

What do you get

The ColorMunki is available in two versions.

One, the 'ColorMunki Photo', is what I'm looking at here, and is primarily aimed at photographers (particularly the social market and advanced amateurs).

That's the 'black' version.

The white ColorMunki Design is more for graphics designers. It's the same device, but in a white case.

The USB powered measuring device comes with a soft case and software.

The measurement part of the device is in the central rotating part.

The white bar is set to a particular position depending on what you want to do with the device.

The image to the right shows it set for measuring projectors. the sensor looks out through the clear plastic part of the case.

If you point it straight up, then you can see the small diffuser 'bump' used when measuring ambient light.

An important part of the measurement cycle with a device like this is calibration.

My own i1 spectrophotometer comes with its own white tile in a calibration base unit.

With the ColorMunki, the tile is built inside the unit and accessed by pointing the bar down 45 degrees.

Move your mouse pointer over the image to see what I mean.

The images below, show (left to right) the device set for calibration, ambient lighting and projector profiling.

Monitor calibration

The device needs to go inside its soft case for this.

The long weighted strap (which seems to have some sand in it) is taken to its full length and used to counter balance the weight of the sensor.

The device is hung over your monitor so that the sensor (bar pointing towards the screen) can measure what colours your screen produces.

It's by knowing what colour the screen should be and comparing this with what is measured that is used to make a profile to give you better colour.

There is a small protective shutter in the soft case, which needs to be opened for taking any measurements.

The software allows for fairly limited choices of settings since it just isn't aimed at the likes of me who like to tinker with things ;-)

The default settings will calibrate your monitor to 6500K and a gamma of 2.2.

Advanced mode offers various settings in relation to whitepoint, gamma, ambient compensation and pre-calibration.

However, that's far more information than the target audience wants to know, so lets just say 'it will calibrate your monitor for you'...

Since calibrating your monitor is not a 'one off' process, there is a reminder you can set to tell you when to repeat the process.

I usually check my monitor every few weeks, but unless someone has changed any of your monitor settings, then once a month should be more than adequate for many users. Do remember though, that if you (or your kids for example) change -any- monitor settings then you should re-check.

A personal opinion... I sometimes get people ask me to quote for coming round to calibrate their monitor for them. This is a service I absolutely refuse to provide - do it yourself! In fact I generally consider any business that does charge money for coming round to do this, as unethical at best. There is also the fact to consider that many people providing such services are violating the licensing terms that the software/hardware is sold with. Since the ColorMunki is aimed at a mass market, expect some people to try and make a quick buck - tell them where to go ;-)

The view below shows the ColorMunki in place ready to check my screen.

Projector Profiling

By pointing the sensor through the clear plastic band, you can calibrate projectors with the software.

The sensor needs to be taken out of its bag for this and aimed to the centre of the screen. The measurement sensor can be rotated to point out of different parts of the clear window to make it easier to aim.

It's suggested that the ColorMunki should be placed at about the width of the screen away from the screen for optimum results.

Whilst I've only briefly tried this with the pre-release software, the process is not dissimilar to using the i1 Beamer attachment I recently reviewed.

Printer profiling

The principle of making a custom printer profile is pretty easy.

First you print out a test chart with lots of colours on it.

Then you measure these colours and use the difference between measured colours and what was sent to the printer to produce a set of corrections.

These 'corrections' are essentially what goes into an icc printer profile.

When I make profiles for myself, I may use thousands of colour patches and some fancy (and expensive) hardware to make the measurements (see my i1 iSis review for more info).

The ColorMunki takes a far simpler approach.

Print out a sheet of 50 colours and measure them (after allowing the sheet to dry thoroughly) by sliding the device over the sheet.

Different types of paper take different times to dry to an acceptable degree, and there is even a timer in the software that counts down for you, for the more impatient user ;-)

The image above shows how you slide the ColorMunki along a sheet of paper to measure a strip.

The software prompts you during the measurement process and tells you if a strip is not correctly read in.

Afterwards the software thinks to itself for a minute or two and creates a second set of coloured patches to 'fill in' information for problem areas with your printer/paper/ink/settings.

You print out and read this second set of colours as before (using exactly the same printer settings).

Now the software goes away and creates an icc profile for you (it supports both RGB and CMYK printer).

The software also allows the option of setting various applications on your computer (Photoshop CS for example) to use this profile by default.

Refining profiles

A further refinement is that you can get the software to measure all the colours in an arbitrary image (skin tones for example) and create a further set of test patches for you to print and read.

After printing and reading these additional patches, the software creates an updated profile aimed at improving rendition of the colours in the image you used.

Note on how it all works
The first 50 patches are always the same set of device recipes (RGB or CMYK values).
With measurements from the first 50 patches, ColorMunki builds a profile and then run a known set of Lab values (containing neutrals, skin tones, etc.) through the profile to determine roughly the device values of those desired colours.
Next, print and measure the newly created second target and then build the final profile using both sets of device recipe and measurement data.
This refinement process helps identify exactly where these key colour areas reside in the printer gamut.
In previous methods, it wasn't known which combination of device recipes actually printed neutral tones so more combinations of colours were printed/measured to find out.
The new iterative discovery process helps find these neutrals much more easily with fewer colour patches.
The image based optimisation works the same way as the second set of 50 patches.
The CM software automatically extract colours from the image, converts them to Lab (using the source / image profile)
The new target is then printed and measured. This information is then added to the previous measurement data set, and used to build a new profile.
Using this method, more information is gained about the printer's behaviour in the colour regions that were extracted from the refinement image.
The idea is that, next time you print an image using the new profile, the results will be even more colour accurate.
Because the process uses colours extracted from the image in this process, you can improve any colour region you desire by simply using an image that contains those colours.
Since the process just adds additional pairs of device recipes and corresponding measured Lab values into the profile data set, it is a non-destructive process and can be repeated as many times as you desire without ever damaging the profile. Note that this is subject to accurate measurements.
Remember as with many things 'Garbage in - garbage out'

Of course you don't need to know how it all works... in fact, the ColorMunki is very much aimed at people who don't want to know what goes on under the hood ;-)

Spot colour measurement

The ColorMunki also has the ability to make 'spot' measurements of colours and allows you to make use of these measurements in building up palettes and colour schemes.

The picture to the right shows the underside of the device.

You can see the plastic strips that help the device slide over test sheets and the hole in the centre that leads to the actual sensor.

For spot measurements, a small guide flips out if you press the locking button.

The central part of the device with the three bumps on it is the button you press for making measurements.

The picture below shows me making a spot measurement of the colour of the roof of my Lamborghini.

Note the way the guide helps get the correct place (mouse over the image to see more).

You can also take the measurements in 'scanning' mode where you read in a series of patches, like in the normal profiling targets. I've an example of this in the article about better black and white prints with the ColorMunki.

Software

The ColorMunki Photo software allows you to set up printers, monitors and projectors.

The Photo Color Picker application allows you to create custom palettes, make spot measurements and a whole host of other features I'll have to look at when I'm checking out the production software :-)

Drag-drop colour and image files from the Finder onto projects to import.
Create palettes by dragging colours to any palette.
View related colours and add them to palettes with drag n' drop.
View colors from an image.
Double-click an image to open the image and select colours.
Search for colors on the web and throughout your palettes.
Click the colour swatch in Colour Info inspector to modify your colour
Rename palettes by double-clicking them in the source list.
Click the loupe icon in order to open a palette in a HUD.
View colours in different lighting conditions.
Snap a palette to a spot library or CMYK
Colour managed printing
Auto-sync palettes to Adobe and Quark applications.

One interesting feature is its ability to take an image and extract samples of all the key colours present. It also allows you to see which colours you have in a palette are 'print safe', i.e. which ones can't be printed by certain print setups.

There is also the Digital Pouch application which is designed to allow you to send images to a client/coworker in a digital 'wrapper' that will alert them if they look at the image on a non colour managed system, or one where the colour management is not set up correctly.

The application generates a self executing file which you can send.

Conclusions

I've calibrated several monitors with the ColorMunki and the profiles looked fine.

The method of attachment for monitor calibration feels a bit odd with the weighted strap, but once again it worked fine.

The printer profiling produced very usable results on my standard 'awkward' test printer - an HP K80 with third party inks, 3rd party photo paper and using open source drivers on an Apple Mac.

Not exhibition quality stuff, but if it can get a reasonable profile from that lot then it shows promise.

X-Rite have told me that they are putting a lot of effort into providing training and user support for the ColorMunki.

There will be extensive training resources available, and I'll be looking at some of them for the full review.

As a long time fan of colour management I can only welcome this effort to get it more widely adopted and accepted.

One (minor) personal concern that I do have, is that with the large market this product is aimed at, then an awful lot of clueless reviewers (both in print and on the web) are going to be writing about a subject they know next to nothing about. Look out over the coming months for reviews that just rearrange press releases rather than actually test what the device does ;-) :-)

Summary

A colour management solution aimed at a much larger market than other X-Rite products.

X-Rite ColorMunki Photo - Minimum System Requirements

Macintosh

Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
512 MB RAM
G4 processor or higher
300 MB of available hard disk space
Powered USB port
Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels or higher

Windows

Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Vista
512 MB RAM
Intel Pentium IV/AMD Athlon XP or better
300 MB of available hard disk space
Powered USB port
Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels or higher

X-Rite ColorMunki Photo Package Contents

ColorMunki Photo Spectrophotometer with built-in Calibration Plate and Optics
Protective Case which also works as a Monitor Holder
USB cable
Software CD – Printer/Display Profiling, Digital Pouch, 'Photo Color Picker', Diagnostics, Operational Videos
Quick Start Guide
Twelve month limited warranty against defects in material and workmanship

The chart below (from X-Rite) shows a comparison between the ColorMunki Create, Design and Photo packages.

.	ColorMunki Create	ColorMunki Design	ColorMunki Photo
Hardware	ColorMunki calibrator (white)	ColorMunki Design (white)	ColorMunki Photo (black)
Est. Price	129 Euros ($149)	429 Euros ($499)	429 Euros ($499)
Typical user	Freelance designers Small/mid size agencies Creatives in Larger agencies Corporate in house design	Freelance designers Small/mid size agencies Creatives in Larger agencies Corporate in house design	Wedding, Social, Portrait and event photographers. 'Prosumer' photographers
Why would you be using it?	Colour creation	Colour creation	Monitor to print match
Palettes software	√	√	√
Measurement directly into Palettes	x	√	√
Display Profiling - Basic DDC/CI support Only 6500/2.2 available	√	√	√
Display Profiling - Basic DDC/CI support Whitepoint, Gamma, 'ambient compensation', pre-calibration	x	√	√
Projector profiling	x	√	√
RGB &CMYK printer profiles Iterative profiling (2 sheets of 50 patches) Has ability to further refine profiles for spot colour optimisation.	x	√	√
Application setter s/w 'AppSetter' Auto configures applications to use correct printer profiles. (CS3, Quark)	x	√	√
ColorMunki Tray utility Quick access to software Profile reminder Access to application setter.	√	√	√
Digital Pouch	x	x	√

Note that ColorMunki solutions are not designed to be upgraded. They are available only in single site or limited multiple seat licenses – i.e., those with a maximum of three computers.

The X-Rite range of products (see below for our reviews of just about all of them...)

Before calibrating your monitor on Windows PC systems, you should check to see that Adobe gamma is turned off if it was installed. We've got a short guide to removing Adobe Gamma that might be of help.

More Info

Improving black and white printing with the ColorMunki and QTR
i1 LT
i1 Design
i1 scanner profiling
i1 Camera profiling with the SG ColorChecker
i1 printer profiling
i1 profile editing
i1 iO automation of measurements
i1 iSis - advanced measuring device
i1 Display 2 Monitor calibration and profiling device from GretagMacbeth - also allows ambient light measurement.
An Introduction to colour management article by Keith and collection of CM info.
Colour management links on this site
The Viewing page - basic monitor set-up
Spyder3Elite - monitor and projector profiling
Reviews - Other equipment and software reviews by Keith.
Why don't my prints match my screen?
A short article showing why there is more to getting your prints to match your screen, than just calibrating your monitor. It's the vital first step, but you do need to consider some other factors for best results.

Other areas of our site that may be of interest...

NEW -- Create your own customised A3 size wall calendar from a choice of 90 of Keith's images. Choose your own images for your own custom printed calendar - 12 months starting any month of the year - many all new images not yet in our main gallery.

Digital Black and White. Keith was recently interviewed about digital black and white photography for a magazine article. We have an expanded version here covering some of his thoughts, techniques and tips for those thinking of trying black and white.

As well as our Commercial Photography services and Training there is a growing collection of photography Articles and Reviews on the site aimed at helping you get the best out of your own photography. We also have a growing collection of Photography related information and links that we hope you find useful.

New site features and some of Keith Cooper's latest work are always covered in the What's New page.

Visiting Leicester or wondering where it is? We have views from the Leicester traffic cameras.