review: ColorMunki Photo (part 4, summing up)

So, finally, what do I think of the ColorMunki?

Well, I think it's a good start. It's a good start for XRite, putting together a new package that makes Color Management easier (but the printer profiles are not there yet). It's a good start for someone trying to get their system color managed with a minimal effort and equipment (but the printer profiles aren't there yet...)

The interface is the best I have seen, and I'm pretty sure I've seen them all. The display profiles are great, and, if you have a need for them, the bundled software, specifically the Photo ColorPicker, may be worth the price all by itself.

Would I run out and buy it? Not until the printer profiles look better. Unlike the Huey, this is cool AND does a good job on your display, but, honestly, when the i1 DisplayLT is selling for under $200, I can't really see the Munki being worth the $500 tag. It kind of reminds me of Aperture when it was first released. It was pricey, hard to understand, took a lot of effort to see how it fit into the puzzle of my workflow, and, it had a couple of real fatal flaws.

Maybe v2. Check back later.

review: Photo ColorPicker Overview

This is a pretty clear explanation of what Photo ColorPicker is all about... from the Munki Help site.

Photo ColorPicker empowers you to create and share your own palettes, and synchronize them with commonly used applications. Select colors from many sources: included Munsell and PANTONE® color libraries, color measured with your ColorMunki device, and colors extracted from your images. Preview palette colors using PrintSafe. Synchronize palettes across Adobe® Photoshop®, Illustrator® & InDesign®, and QuarkXPress®. Share your palettes with others using a variety of formats.

Consider that whether you're a photographer, graphic designer, or other content creator, you are increasingly responsible for project design and content considerations, in addition to the photos that will be used. For a particular image, or set of images, you can build palettes based on colors in those images, and have related colors suggested. Then build a custom color scheme for a web site, or design layout, as a color palette, and have it synchronized with your applications. Or export the palette in a multitude of formats to share and collaborate with others.

While I'm at it, DigitalPouch is explained here:

DigitalPouch allows you to communicate and share color accurate images. Each DigitalPouch file contains images of your choice, an associated ICC profile (used to describe the colors in your images), and a lightweight, color managed viewing application. You can send DigitalPouch files to others and they can view your work color accurately by simply opening the DigitalPouch file.