Using Eye-One Measurements With MonacoPROFILER

Last updated: April 3, 2007

Organic Rocks, Point Lobos State Reserve, December 2006

Overview

These same measurements can also be used to build printer profiles using MonacoPROFILER. However, MonacoPROFILER can only import Lab measurements that are sorted in a specific sequence. Bill Atkinson has written a Mac-only application called Extract Monaco Lab.app which can convert the measurements exported from MeasureTool to the required sequence.

I have written a Windows application (ConvertToMonacoLAB.exe) that accomplishes essentially the same task. This application will convert either 1728-patch or 4096-patch Lab measurements to the format required by MonacoPROFILER.

Note that you can also measure 1728-patch targets directly with MonacoPROFILER. There are two advantages to measuring the data in MeasureTool, however. The first benefit is that by measuring the data separately, you have the option of building different profiles (using different profile-making software) from the exact same measurement data. Bill Atkinson describes this process in his Profiles FAQ and Targets FAQ. The second benefit is that the spectral data saved by MeasureTool can be used to optimize printer profiles for different viewing conditions (as opposed to the standard D50 lighting assumption); this ability will be explored in a separate, upcoming article.

Bill Atkinson's RGB 1728-patch profile target

Downloads and Instructions

Instructions:

1. Use MeasureTool to measure either the RGB 1728 Atkinson profile target or the RGB 4096 Atkinson profile target. For detailed step-by-step instructions, visit this page and follow the instructions under Part 2 (about half-way down the page).
2. Export the measurements in Lab format.
3. Copy the exported measurement file into the same directory that contains ConvertToMonacoLAB.exe and rename it to in.txt (this renaming step is important!).
4. If you measured the 1728-patch target, double-click on __Run1728.bat. If you measured the 4096-patch target, double-click on __Run4096.bat.
5. You should now see a new file called out.txt in the same directory that contains ConvertToMonacoLAB.exe. (Note that any previous file called out.txt will be overwritten.) out.txt contains your measurements, sorted into the sequence required by MonacoPROFILER.
6. Run MonacoPROFILER:
   • On the main screen, click the Output button.
   • On the Select Profile Data screen, select Create New Profile, set the printer type to RGB, and uncheck the Linearize button. Click the right arrow.
   • On the Select Device screen, choose the measurement device that you used to measure the target in Step 1 (see above). Click the right arrow.
   • On the Patch Options screen, set the Quality menu to 1728 Patches and uncheck the Scramble Patches button. The Media Size option does not matter. Click the right arrow.
   • On the Read Patches screen, click the Import... button. Select the out.txt file generated during Step 4 (see above). You should see the color and Lab values fill in on the right side of the window. Click the right arrow.
   • On the Profile Options screen, select your desired profile options. I usually choose the following options:

     Rendering Intent:	Perceptual
     Table Resolution:	33x33x33
     Color Value Size:	16 bit
     Neutralize Gray Axis:	0
     Contrast:	0
     Saturation:	0

     Click the right arrow.

   • On the Create Profile screen, click the Create Profile... button and follow the remaining instructions.

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