Making printer-profile on the cheap?

[Engine-Number9]

I saw the X-Rite Studio product that can profile your printer using a spectrocolorimeter is very costly. Printing is just a hobby and I give my hobbies a budget. Is there any way I could profile my printer in some other way without the need for a spectrocolorimeter?

I came across Silverfast software. That can profile printers using a flatbed scanner. But the range of flatbed scanners it supports is very limited.

Could I do it by eye somehow and a profile editor?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

There is some scanner based profiling software available which does not need a spectrometer but just a scanner and a qualified target for the 'Profile Prism' software

http://www.ddisoftware.com/prism/

But I'm not familiar with the quality of the profiles you can create with it.

A much better budget level approach is the ArgyllCMS software, you need a spectrometer i1Pro or i1Pro2 - which you can get a a rather low price used via Ebay or similar platforms - or you catch a complete Colormunki package this way. The ArgyllCMS software is free.

There are endless postings about the use of the ArgyllCMS software on this forum starting with this one

https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...p-argyll-cms-profiling-on-your-computer.8570/

and you get a long list of additional postings when you search for 'ArgyllCMS'

https://www.printerknowledge.com/search/1024907/?q=argyllcms&o=date


ArgyllCMS can deliver you high quality icm-profiles depending on the parameters you are using.

 

[Artur5]

Years ago, I used the Profile Prism software to make profiles using my scanner. Quality of the profiles ?. Mediocre at best, being indulgent. Too many variables at play: the color gamut and dynamic range varies a lot between different scanners. The spectral response of the paper to the scanner fluorescent lights vs natural or tungsten light used to view the photos is another unknown factor and then there's the poor accuracy of the profile prism software. In top of that, it was very difficult to get a good scan without clipping the highlights or the shadows. It was a matter of trying many times until you got a scanned file that the software didn't reject because of one thing or another. Not a nice experience.

After a while, I gave up and I got a SpyderPrint colorimeter. To my disappointment, the profiles weren't much better than Profile prism. although at least it was easier to make them.
Finally, I found a fair priced second hand Color Munki Photo and I haven't looked elsewhere since then.
For tight budgets, I think this is still the best option, either with the old Color Munki Photo name or the new I1studio.