Customer Reviews

ColorVision PrintFIX PRO Suite (Win/Mac)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Colorvision Printfix Pro Suite provides a method to build accurate color profiles for a monitor and printer. The suite includes a colorimeter for measuring the colors of a CRT or LCD monitor, a spectrocolorimeter for measuring the color output of a printer, the Spyder2Pro software for calibrating the monitor and building the ICC monitor profile, and the PrintFIX Pro software for building the printer ICC profile. Use of the PrintFIX product is fairly straightforward but somewhat timeconsuming because every color square on a printed color chart must individually be measured. Nevertheless, this method is the most accurate way of generating a printer profile. The alternate method of using a scanner to measure the color output of a printer is cheaper and easier but less accurate. The product accomplishes what it is advertised to do.

I've been working with a Dell UltrsSharp 20 inch LCD for the past four years and never realized how far off the color was until now. The Spyder2PRO Professional Monitor Calibration tool and software worked like a charm. To me that was an added bonus.

My primary purpose for purchasing this item was the PrintFIX PRO Spectrocolorimeter and software. I'd purchased an Epson R1800 printer earlier in the year and truly wasn't happy with the prints it churned out. Tried a number of papers and profiles and nothing was quite right. After less than a half hour with PrintFix Pro of building a profile for Epson Premium Luster paper, the prints are spot on perfect.

Rather than installing the software in the box for both components, I downloaded the latest releases from the ColorVision website and everything installed like a charm on my Vista Ultimate 64-bit box. I'd suggest downloading the latest software for any product not just this item.

I used the 225 sample profile and if you shrink the margins on the 8.5 x 11.0 paper, it's no problem to have a profile in 15 minutes or less. I'm looking forward to profiling different papers for my printer and have every expectation that they'll be as true as my first.

I've seen the references to lousy vendor support but I had no need to contact ColorVision. Like most peripherals, following the install instructions is very important and while I've had some that were buggy in a 64-bit environment, PrintFix Pro Suite was perfect.

You've spent all that money on your monitor and printer, PrintFix Pro Suite is money well spent to insuring those products work their best.

Spyder relatively easy to use. Patches are small and quite close, requiring a bit of patience to read. I've built profiles for my 4x6 Canon dye sub CP510 printer as well as my Canon i960. Both produced excellent results after 2 attempts.

I've had this product for almost one year. (It has a 2 year warranty) I found the product support initially to be quite good. This is a complex hardware/software suite. The software, especially for the printer calibration, is excellent. The people that designed it really wanted to make the user comfortable using the product. A few months ago, the spectrometer failed, and I received good support in sending me a 'new' one. The replacement was sent to the right address, but wrong name. Nonetheless, I received it and found it loosely packed in a box. It was obviously a refurbished unit. Worse yet, the spectrometer would not even calibrate. Now, after over a month of trying to get ANOTHER replacement, I get the sinking feeling that this company is a rudder-less ship. It is now called Colorvision ('Datacolor is dead'), and seems to be headquartered in Europe. The support site is weak, and the customer service person I talked to could care less. I would look elsewhere for color calibration products.

Update: to be fair, the above review did not focus on the product itself, but my frustration with the company. Colorvision has responded and sent me a new functioning spectrometer, and it appears they have gotten their act together. If I could, I'd add two stars to the above review, since I do use the system and appreciate the software upgrades that have made this system even better.

I had pretty good luck loading ColorVision's software for both the Spyder 2Pro and the PrintFIX Pro on my G5 PowerMac -- it was pretty straight-forward, with instructions that are easy to follow. At first, I had a slight problem getting the software to recognize the PrintFix Spectromiter -- it did not work in "Demo" mode -- it works only after typing in the product serial number, and skipping the Demo. Otherwise, I feel confident that these products are providing full control over the print process by setting the gamma levels on the monitor, and developing custom print profiles that are recognized in Photoshop. The instructions are not too elaborate -- but they do include all the critical steps, for example, turning off the existing system setups, and default profiles that will interfere with printing the color patches. Reading the color patches with the Spectro takes a few minutes, but it's worth the time. On calibrating the gamma levels, this too, requires following the not-too-elaborate instructions, to get the system to its default settings, and understanding the light levels within the workspace environment, before moving through the calibration process. It's probably just another one of those products that photographers must have.

Great product - does what it says on the box with ease. The only advice I would give, is that when scanning the color swatches to set up the printer profile, be sure to put a few sheets of white paper under the swatch page, this stops the spectrometer from seeing any dark surface under the swatches and upsetting the results. The printer and monitor software walks you through the setup in an easy to understand way.

I have recently purchased the package. The spectro for print profiles is the same one offered for the spyder3 print package. owners of the print fix pro software are allowed to upgrade to the spyder3 print software for free. that means I purchase a $400 printer calibrater for only $300 and received a free spyder 2 pro. I already owned a spyder2 pro. So I sold both my spyder 2 pros and have purchased the spyder3 pro. I now have the spyder3 print and spyder3 elite for a total cost of $300. Awww research. Anyway this package is a great value even if you don't part it out. The print profiling software (Download spyder3 print for free)is amazing. I only use the highest settings. nearly 1000 color and Grey swatches. The profiles are better then the one provided by Bill Atkinson for my epson 7600. Much better color and shadow detail.

Issues with vista 64
Blame Microsoft for this, but the driver for the print spectro will not load becuose it is not digitaly signed by the Gods at Microsoft. I found a workaround. Redoot and press f8 when windows is loading there is an option to start windows without the digital driver signing buisness. the printer spectro will now be recognized and loaded when you plug it in.

The digital world is not perfect, but This package will get you a lot closer.

ColorVision PrintFIX PRO Suite (Win/Mac)
This product has some problems with final tuning of icc profiles. I also had trouble with the spectrometer but they replaced it promptly. The learning curve is a bit fuzzy. I need more time to work out the problems

Have had the ColorVision PrintFIX PRO Suite since April 2008. Initially I had problems with Windows Vista recognising the hardware, but once I downloaded and installed the Spyder3Print V3.0 software all was good. Documentation is not the best but you soon get the hang of it. Software is OK but could be better. I have made profiles for my Viewsonic 22" LCD monitor with the Spyder2 Pro colorimeter and am happy with the results. I have also made many profiles for my Canon i965 printer using generic inks with both Canon and Kodak photo papers. I get good and consistent results and the color casts are now gone. I am very happy with the product and would recommend to others interested in printing photos. Great product, especially for the $350 US price I paid.

I've been working with a Dell UltrsSharp 20 inch LCD for the past four years and never realized how far off the color was until now. The Spyder2PRO Professional Monitor Calibration tool and software worked like a charm. To me that was an added bonus.

My primary purpose for purchasing this item was the PrintFIX PRO Spectrocolorimeter and software. I'd purchased an Epson R1800 printer earlier in the year and truly wasn't happy with the prints it churned out. Tried a number of papers and profiles and nothing was quite right. After less than a half hour with PrintFix Pro of building a profile for Epson Premium Luster paper, the prints are spot on perfect.

Rather than installing the software in the box for both components, I downloaded the latest releases from the ColorVision website and everything installed like a charm on my Vista Ultimate 64-bit box. I'd suggest downloading the latest software for any product not just this item.

I used the 225 sample profile and if you shrink the margins on the 8.5 x 11.0 paper, it's no problem to have a profile in 15 minutes or less. I'm looking forward to profiling different papers for my printer and have every expectation that they'll be as true as my first.

I've seen the references to lousy vendor support but I had no need to contact ColorVision. Like most peripherals, following the install instructions is very important and while I've had some that were buggy in a 64-bit environment, PrintFix Pro Suite was perfect.

You've spent all that money on your monitor and printer, PrintFix Pro Suite is money well spent to insuring those products work their best.