the point of saving the calibration settings

[rickettss]

thanks for your article on how to use the ColorMunki.

one question: what's the point of saving the calibration settings? AFAIK, there's no way to load and use them

..s

[Damien Symonds]

Hi @rickettss, are you referring to the last step of naming and saving the profile?

[rickettss]

yes

[Damien Symonds]

That's the profile that all your software uses to display colour correctly!

It's true that YOU can't do anything with the profile, but you're not meant to.  It sits in the system, and Lightroom and other colour-managed programs refer to it when they're displaying colour.

[rickettss]

so, what's the point of asking the user if they wish to save the profile, and to give them the ability to rename it? just do it automatically  

..steve

[Damien Symonds]

No no no.  The cheapest range of calibrators do do that (name and save automatically, without user intervention) and it's a hassle.  It means that you can't calibrate dual displays, for one thing.  It also means you can't save profiles with different calibration settings while you're testing for best calibration results.

Also remember that your computer is clever enough to remember different profiles for different monitors, even if you unplug them to use a different monitor for a while, then plug the original one back in.  That kind of functionality requires unique profile names.

[rickettss]

i understand that. and i also use my ColorMunki for 2 systems. but surely the software could just auto-save the profile?

[Damien Symonds]

No, not two separate systems.  I mean dual monitors on the same system.

[rickettss]

okay. but the question remains... why can't the profiles be auto-saved?

[Damien Symonds]

Sorry, I don't understand what you don't understand.

[rickettss]

why does the software present you with the option to save the profile, and to rename it? why doesn't it just save the profile automatically?

[Damien Symonds]

Because of all the things I just said.

[Damien Symonds]

If you're calibrating dual (or more) monitors, you need to be able to name the profile to tell you which monitor it belongs to.  This is important for checking (in the Display control panel) to confirm that Windows is recognising a profile, if you need to do any troubleshooting.

If you're doing a series of calibration tests, you need to be able to tell yourself what settings you used.  Remember that these settings won't always be in-system ones that the software could automatically pick up and include in the name for you.  They might be settings you used on the actual monitor.

[Damien Symonds]

And now that I think about it, I guess one of the most poignant reasons is that some people prefer to save their profile with the date (thereby gradually filling their system with out-of-date profiles) and some people prefer to save it without a date (thereby replacing the same profile each month).  Software that automatically made that choice for us would only please half of us, if you know what I mean.

[rickettss]

*that* i can understand. i hate that Lightroom merrily saves and saves every catalog backup, without the user realizing that each one can be 1GB or more, thus quickly eating up a lot of HD space.

but at least Lr allows the user to restore an old catalog. AFAIK, ColorMunki does not allow its users to do the same, so i don't see the value of tagging the prole with the date

[Damien Symonds]

Lightroom is utter shit, and I urge you to get a version of Photoshop or Elements pronto.

You can choose any profile that's on your system with the little app I described in this article.  (You can also do it with Windows itself, but the app is easier.)

[rickettss]

Lr works for me. i love it. Ps is far too complex for my needs. i also have ON1 Photo Raw and might give it a try.. mainly for its better healing tools and layering capabilities.

I would be good to be able to see an older profile... esp to compare it against a new one and to choose to revert to it. would be nice if ColorMunki supported this capability

[Damien Symonds]

No, that's not the ColorMunki's role.  Its role is to create the profiles for you.  Use Windows, or the app, to switch between them.

[rickettss]

well-designed programs shouldn't require the user to dive into Windows or get a 3rd-party app to do basic things

..steve

[Damien Symonds]

Can you explain what your concern is, exactly?

You seem determined to find faults with the monitor calibration process.

[rickettss]

i think i have, as best as i can. we disagree on how ColorMunki works, or should work. time to call it a day?

[Damien Symonds]

Are you saying it's not working for you?  Did you not achieve a print match?

[rickettss]

have not suggested that. the ColorMunkim works great

[Damien Symonds]

Ok .... so ... what's the problem?