PANTONE COLORVISION SPYDER PRO WITH PRINTFIX

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: I recently purchased ColorVision's PrintFIX product to improve the quality of prints that my Epson 2200 produces from Photoshop. The default profiles produce properly exposed prints, but the colors are slightly off from those on the monitor (which has been calibrated).

According to the PrintFIX ads, the device "enables you to produce top quality prints right away" and "build custom profiles in minutes." That has not been my experience. Multiple attempts to use PrintFIX produced prints that were much too underexposed with a green tint that looked nothing like the image on the monitor using the same profile with Photoshop proofing.

I called ColorVision's tech support and the first thing they told me was that PrintFIX is not suitable for professional or even advanced amateur color management. (I fully agree, but why then do they sell it bundled with their Spyder PRO professional monitor calibration tool?). By the way, the street price for PrintFIX is $299!

After I explained my problem, the tech asked me to email a copy of the calibration chart that I printed. After receipt he would call me back to explain how to use their DoctorPRO software that comes with PrintFIX to correct the profile. The tech did not call me back nor did he return my messages left on voicemail. It took four phone calls to make contact with him again.

The process for using DoctorPRO is a complete kludge and cannot produce consistent or reproducible color management of a printer. The first step is to use Photoshop image adjustments to make the image on the monitor look like the incorrect print. This is a highly subjective process and matching the print exactly on the monitor is impossible. The next step is to create a Photoshop action in which the image adjustments of Photoshop are used to correct the now incorrect monitor image to match the original. Then DoctorPRO is initiated and it applies the action to create an edited profile. In theory, the edited profile is then used on the monitor to soft proof results prior to printing. The print then is made using this profile. This is of course and iterative process, and it takes many attempts and wastes many prints to get a profile that is even close to acceptable.

Obviously, this same process can be used without using either the PrintFIX hardware or software by just modifying the default profiles in Photoshop with an action.

IMHO PrintFIX does not do the job and is not worth the money. ColorVision should be embarrassed to sell a product that falls so short of its claims and one that its tech support even admits is inadequate.