AAUG Reviews

by Bruce Herman ,AAUG Member

Spyder3Studio is Datacolor’s recently released, complete solution to color management for photographers and artists working in the digital realm. Like its predecessor, PrintFIX Pro Suite 2, Spyder3Studio is actually two products bundled together. They are Spyder3Elite which is for display calibration and profiling; and Spyder3Print which is for profiling printer paper. Spyder3Studio differs from it predecessor in several important respects. The Spyder3 itself, which is used for monitor calibration and profiling, is smaller, more sensitive, more accurate, and faster. The ambient light sensor is built into the Spyder3 unit. The software component of Spyder3Elite contains a number of new features, including a real-time ambient light sensor and new alternatives for checking the calibration that do not require running a full-blown re-calibration. Spyder3Print includes a new guide that helps to position the spectrophotometer and thereby speed the process, and extended gray profiling. [Spyder3Elite can calibrate and profile digital projectors, but I did not evaluate that capability.]

Spyder3Studio is packaged in a small metal briefcase. This is a big improvement over the cardboard box used for PrintFIX PRO 2. All of the hardware components are well protected by ample foam padding. It would be helpful if it included a small pocket for the CD’s and documents.

Installation of the software was straightforward on the Mac. The versions in my evaluation package were 3.0.0 for both Spyder3Elite and Spyder3Print. Version 3.0.1 for Spyder3Elite was available immediately for downloading. Spyder3Print appeared a month or two later. Surprisingly, Spyder3Elite as delivered in the box was not usable at least on a Mac. The updates, although large (83 and 184 MB respectively), fixed all of the problems and are a must for both Tiger and Leopard users. Downloading these from the web site requires that you register your software and then log in.

I think that most people will find that it is quite easy to calibrate and profile their monitor with Spyder3Elite. The software guides you through the process and offers you the opportunity to read the rationale behind each step by clicking on the Help button. I have used it with a CRT, the Lacie Electron22Blue and with a LCD monitor, the NEC LCD2690WUxi. The software runs in either of two modes, Assistant or Expert. In either event, you are asked to select some values to characterize your monitor. Once you have characterized your monitor, the program instructs you to position the puck and then runs through a series of colors. If you have specified that you do not wish to vary the color guns, the profiling occurs quite quickly. You name the profile after it’s been computed, and finally get to compare how a series of photographs appear before and after calibration. The process is somewhat longer if you elect to vary the intensity of the red, green and blue, but is still faster than with Spyder2 PRO.

I used the Expert mode on my CRT and both Assistant and Expert on my LCD. I achieved excellent results in all cases. I prefer the Expert Mode because you can manually check the light level in the room. You can also achieve a higher degree of consistency from calibration to calibration by specifying the black and white luminance. Keep in mind that you should have your display in a room with controlled lighting to make this effort worthwhile.

I have only two criticisms of Spyder3Elite. Say, for instance, that you did your first calibration with the RGB slider selection unchecked, but then decide to try calibration and profiling with the option to vary the R, G and B sliders. It’s not clear what you need to do if you decide that you would like to change this or any other information concerning the monitor. I called Tech Support, and even the person who assisted me had to get some help form another person to answer this question. The answer by the way is that after you start Spyder3Elite and before you do anything else, click Go and then Edit Display Information. If you click something else on the menu or the interface before this, you’ll find the required selection grayed out. These parameters would be better handled in a preferences menu. The user could be guided through the present screens upon starting Spyder3Elite for the very first time, but subsequently would be able to change the settings from within the Preferences. My second criticism is that the editing tools for the display profile are not intuitive. You shouldn’t have to edit the curves, but if you do, editing the curves themselves is more difficult than manipulating sliders. Interestingly, the editing tools for the printer paper profiles do use color sliders. Neither of these are sufficiently onerous to justify decreasing the overall rating, but they deserve to be addressed by Datacolor.

Profiling your printer is the second half of color management. Spyder3Print generates profiles in a two step process. The first is to print an array of colors on a sheet of the paper to be profiled. The second is to read the colors with a spectrophotometer. The software the generates the profile that you name and save. Spyder3Print guides you through the processes step by step.

Spyder3Print has several options that greatly enhance the profiling process. The first is the “Media Setting Check.” Some paper manufacturers give recommended settings for their papers. For instance, Crane recommends Enhanced Matte for Museo Max on an Epson r2400 printer. The Media Settings Check allows you to independently confirm this selection. For manufacturers that do not recommend a media setting, this is an essential step.

another new option is the “Extended Grays” target. Normally, you have a choice of three arrays of colors that you can print as targets. The first is a set of 150 colors. My previous experience is that this is too few colors to develop a good profile. The one that I use is the 225 color target. The third choice is 729 colors, which requires three sheets of 8×10 paper. The new alternative is “Extended Grays.” The target’s main purpose is to improve the profiles for black and white printing. I found that printing the 225 color target and the 238 color extended gray target allowed me to create a profile that gave better results for color printing than Epson’s own profiles for their own paper.

Although Datacolor downplays its utility, I feel that the mechanical guide (Print Guide Rule) that is included with Spyder3Studio to guide the spectrophotometer across the target greatly speeds up the process. I added a piece of white tape to the top of mine with the letters corresponding to the columns in the target. This helped me position the puck if it shifted unexpectedly in the event I had to pause while measuring the target for some reason.

Spyder3Print allows you to generate profiles that are biased for display conditions that are suboptimal. Use the PreciseLight Brightness slider to build a profile that compensates for brighter or darker conditions. The PreciseLight Color Temperature slider allows you to compensate for lighting that is warmer or cooler than daylight. You can make changes to the profile as it is created or modify an existing profile with these tools or the excellent editing tools. The first profiles that i made for Crane’s papers were as good as those provided by Crane, but like Crane’s profiles, exhibited a slight green tint. I quickly corrected this with the editing tools. Note that the green tint was not an issue when I used the “Extended Grays” target in addition to the standard high quality target. I did not have a green tint with papers from any other manufacturers.

Spyder3Print generates 16 bit profiles as an alternative to the standard 8 bit profiles if you prefer. These are larger files, but should generate better results than 8 bit profiles, especially as more printers adopt 16 bit drivers.

Color management with Spyder3Studio can be as simple or as complex as you prefer to make it. You can go with the defaults and obtain excellent results for both your monitor and your paper. Or you can investigate some of the options described in the Help menu and take your results to the next level. I highly recommend Spyder3Studio for anyone who wants to improve the quality of the images that they view on their monitor and the prints that they make.