Project? - i1Pro cradle needed

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Never thought I'd be posting in the 3D printing forums but here I am, cap in hand, eating my words (enjoy it while it lasts!)...

I've found myself digging out my i1 Pro1 profiling tool but am getting very frustrated with the limitations and poor design of the profiling jig that holds the i1 Pro unit and (allegedly) allows you to scan across the target.

1651862474933.png


The unit that I have is limited in that it can only handle standard size targets and not allow targets that have been created to take advantage of more of the A4 format so the slot that you see above is about 5cm (2") too narrow for the targets I'm trying to use... Add to that the i1Pro unit regularly scrapes across the target which causes errors when reading the target so I'd like to get something that does a better job of holding the unit so it can scan.

One improvement I've managed to create is to switch the holder to a drawing board rather than the flimsy plastic backing base so something that would run along a drawing boards slide ruler would be very welcome..

Don't know if there's already something that out there or that could be adapted but I'd really like to be able to breath some more life into this thing rather than having to invest in another unit when this one would work fine if it wasn't for the issues above.

Anyone got any ideas, suggestions, etc...?
 

Ink stained Fingers

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Which profiling software are you using ? The scanning tablet goes together with the i1Pofiler software, its patch sheet generator takes care of the size limits and provides enough space around the edges.
How often are you using the scanning tablet ? I was unhappy with it from the beginning and got an i1iO scanning table already long time ago - a used one via Ebay at a steep discount, I was using the ProfileMaker software at that time (on Windows XP) and the Colorport XRite software drives the scanning table which stores the scanned data in various formats which let you import the data into various profiling programs. I wore down that first i1iO robot arm, and got a 2nd one for the i1Pro2 spectro, as well at a very good price via Ebay - from Ireland this time which I still use today. The scanning table lets you use much smaller patch sizes - I got up to 1000 patches on one A4 sheet, or 700 with the i1Pro2 - slightly larger patches for multiple scans. It took me about 6 weeks to get a hit on Ebay, I just kept a search going for that time. I only can say that I would not go back at all to manual scanning. I have seen as well that other scanners like the iSiS show up on Ebay once in a while but I don't know if that is supported by Colorport or your software. The i1Pro scanner makes it possible to rescan for higher accuracy, you can use higher patch counts without more effort on your side, I easily can scan patch sheet variations w/o effort - e.g. by different driver settings, or do all the scanning for the fading tests.
 
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Which profiling software are you using ? The scanning tablet goes together with the i1Pofiler software, its patch sheet generator takes care of the size limits and provides enough space around the edges.
Argyll CMS... Specifically because I want to be able to share the profiles without the licensing restrictions that iProfiler include... iProfiler also appears to be broken on my OS (win10).

How often are you using the scanning tablet ? I was unhappy with it from the beginning and got an i1iO scanning table already long time ago - a used one via Ebay at a steep discount, I was using the ProfileMaker software at that time (on Windows XP) and the Colorport XRite software drives the scanning table which stores the scanned data in various formats which let you import the data into various profiling programs. I wore down that first i1iO robot arm, and got a 2nd one for the i1Pro2 spectro, as well at a very good price via Ebay - from Ireland this time which I still use today. The scanning table lets you use much smaller patch sizes - I got up to 1000 patches on one A4 sheet, or 700 with the i1Pro2 - slightly larger patches for multiple scans. It took me about 6 weeks to get a hit on Ebay, I just kept a search going for that time. I only can say that I would not go back at all to manual scanning. I have seen as well that other scanners like the iSiS show up on Ebay once in a while but I don't know if that is supported by Colorport or your software. The i1Pro scanner makes it possible to rescan for higher accuracy, you can use higher patch counts without more effort on your side, I easily can scan patch sheet variations w/o effort - e.g. by different driver settings, or do all the scanning for the fading tests.
I did consider it but those things are EXPENSIVE! Just out of interest, how much did you get yours for and how much use are you getting out of it to wear the arm out?!!

Interesting about what you said about the export options though... I wonder if Argyll CMS will work with it...
EDIT: Interesting find: https://www.argyllcms.com/doc/txt2ti3.html

Know what you mean about manual scanning but at the moment I'm learning the ropes (again) and in truth I assumed the automated system like the i1iO would be proprietary so you've opened my eyes more than a little there...

Salient point to note though, I'm looking more at profiling a selection of papers for the printers and inks that we handle/sell through OctoInkjet although I have to admit it would certainly add value if we could provide custom profiles for all the printers... I'm just not sure it's something I'm ready to invest that heavily into, as much in terms of paper and time as anything else...
 

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Gentlemen, I never expected to see you in this subforum. This place is for nuts who spend hours and hours to print something that can be purchased for next to nothing at the shop around the corner. :D

As far as colorimeter/spectros for profiling monitors and printers I decided time ago that a Color Munki (for printers) and i1Display pro (for screens) was a reasonable compromise for my needs and, specially, budget.
The stuff that you're discussing plays in a very different league. .. Robotized arms, 1000 patches...:oops:

Martin (@websnail), I expect that there's nothing ready available that suits your needs.
As you surely realize, such thing should be designed and 3D printed specifically for you and, to do that, the designer/3Dprinter must have access to an i1 pro1 and your actual craddle too. If not, it's impossible to make something minimally accurate. You should also specify exactly the dimensions of your ideal cradle : scanning width, depth, etc..
I can't help you here. My 3D designing skills are quite basic and my printer is too small if you want sizes bigger than A4. In order to print a guide-ruler for my Color Munki I had to print it in two parts and assemble it afterwards with glue and pegs That's for A4 size. Anything bigger would be very convoluted and time consuming with my little printer, even if I had a 3D model already designed, which is really the hardest part.
 

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Yes, the Color Munki delivers very reliably usable printer profiles, but as soon as you want a little bit more you would need to go for the i1Profiler software or getting familiar with ArgyllCMS.
The Colorport software by XRite does not get updates anymore for newer pieces of hardware, and this since 10 years, but it supports both the i1Pro and the i1Pro2 and both the i1iO and the i1iO2 scanning tables. I got one almost 20 years ago for about 20% of the listprice via Ebay, and the 2nd one about 10 years ago for about 25% of listprice, and this unit was practically new, a poster/graphics shop was closing down and selling off the residual equipment. But it look about 6 - 9 weeks to find these units. Colorport supports the CGATS data format for export into a data file, so you can use other software compatible with it - I was running ProfileMaker for quite some time. ColorPort was easier to use to set up patch sheets, and profile maker did not support the i1iO.
( I recommend you to run the i1Diagnostics for the i1Pro spectro once in a while, the cal tile in the cradle does not cover all internal variables)
 
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Found 2 models about the support for the i1pro & i1pro2 ruler on thingiverse.
The i1pro2 ruler seems like no 5cm edge limits.
How about merge the design to let i1pro running on i1pro2 ruler?

Or even more, convert it to running on the drawing boards slide ruler.
 

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Never thought I'd be posting in the 3D printing forums but here I am, cap in hand, eating my words (enjoy it while it lasts!)...

I've found myself digging out my i1 Pro1 profiling tool but am getting very frustrated with the limitations and poor design of the profiling jig that holds the i1 Pro unit and (allegedly) allows you to scan across the target.

View attachment 14126

The unit that I have is limited in that it can only handle standard size targets and not allow targets that have been created to take advantage of more of the A4 format so the slot that you see above is about 5cm (2") too narrow for the targets I'm trying to use... Add to that the i1Pro unit regularly scrapes across the target which causes errors when reading the target so I'd like to get something that does a better job of holding the unit so it can scan.

One improvement I've managed to create is to switch the holder to a drawing board rather than the flimsy plastic backing base so something that would run along a drawing boards slide ruler would be very welcome..

Don't know if there's already something that out there or that could be adapted but I'd really like to be able to breath some more life into this thing rather than having to invest in another unit when this one would work fine if it wasn't for the issues above.

Anyone got any ideas, suggestions, etc...?
Have you ever consider to change ArgyllCMS printtarg to portrait mode?
I prefer to use portrait to squeeze more patches on 1 A4.
PXL_20220508_060206869.MP.jpg
 
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