Profiling Printers using Color Munki

Through Color Munki by X-Rite, I color profiled my printer according to the color swatch palette I created and the paper I would be using.  ColorMunki has a great step by step process for calibrating the printer the first time.  It is important to keep different printer calibrations for different paper types.  So if you decide to print the same palette on another type of paper, you will need to profile the printer to that paper first.  It is also helpful to use paper from the same brand as your printer for the most accurate colors, but if you use paper such as Ilford, you will still get great color.

If this is the first time you have profiled the printer to a new type of paper, you will need to select "Printer Profiling" in the left menu of Color Munki software, then "Create New Profile".  Choose your printer and then create a paper name for this profiling.  In my case I use the Canon i9900 printer, but I also needed to create a paper name that I would l remember to use when printing on that paper type.

Color Munki will ask you to check your printer setting.  When the printer window setting opens go to "Color Matching" in the pull down menu.  The correct setting is "Colorsync", and then where it says "profile:"  you must disable the printer by telling it "generic RGB" under the same menu.  I had to scroll down and choose "other profiles" in order to find it.  It may be in a different location for different printers, but it is very important to save that setting.  I titled that setting "calibration" and saved it through the printer dialogue box.  That setting will be used for any printing with that specific paper after you profile the printer.

Once the chart is printed let you paper dry before scrolling the Color Munki Device along the chart.  Next you will follow the prompts to complete the initial profile using your Color Munki Device on the printed chart and then finish.  At the end you will be asked to sync all CS Suite programs to this setting, and it is importnat to do that last step.

If you have already created a profile, and need to optimize the colors the printer is printing out to a specific palette, choose "Optimize Existing Profile" from the Printer Profiling menu.  Go through the prompts and use the Color Munki device to follow over the printed chart again.  Optimizing colors is a way to keep ensuring that the paper you are printing on will be able to print the palette colors you need correctly without having to do another new profile.  You must use a paper that you have already profiled.  Drag the swatches from your saved Color Munki palette into the open window that is provided.  After the chart has dried, make sure to scroll the Color Munki device along the color chart.

When the colors are approved by the device you are prompted to finish, and your profile optimization has been completed.

Whenever you go to print, in any creative software, you should be able to choose the printer/paper name setting and have it print the colors you profiled.  There shouldn't be a need to open the printer dialogue box, because the settings should already be saved from your profile setting.

ColorMunki Design set up and Color Palette for Mac OSX

I waited to upgrade my Gretag Macbeth Eye One Match for a couple of years and finally bought ColorMunki Design from X-Rite.  I wanted to have an all in one device that calibrated my monitor and also allowed me to use Pantone Fashion and Home swatches which are already part of the Color Munki software.  The added bonus was that I would be able to take snapshots of colors not already provided in the software, and then have them automatically added to a palette.  This would be a huge reduction in time, instead of trying to mix colors correctly onscreen for presentations.

Using the ColorMunki spectrophotometer proved to be very easy when it came to calibrating my monitor.  The onscreen instructions are smooth to follow, and it is the first thing you do at set up after the software is installed.  The software can be set to remind you of monitor calibration  every week, or up to 4 weeks from your last calibration. To recalibrate the Monitor before the time you set the software to remind you, go to Display Profiling on the menu. 

I'd calibrated my monitor earlier in the day which also calibrated the device.  When I later went to take spot colors with the ColorMunki, I was reminded that the device itself needed to be calibrated.  To calibrate the device, click on the ColorMunki symbol on the left menu of the window. The ColorMunki device must be connected to your monitor via the USB cord.

New palettes are created by going to the + symbol at the bottom left of the window. Next type in the name of your palette by clicking on the title under "Projects".

Take spot colors to add to the palette with the ColorMunki device.  ColorMunki assigns the swatch a color category below the color name. You can assign a new color name by double clicking on the color title in the upper right hand box of the window.

Several swatch libraries come preloaded with the ColorMunki Software.

If you have the number reference to the swatch you are looking for from one of the libraries, it can be typed in at the bottom of the window under the main color swatch. If you want to add the swatch to your custom palette, drag the large swatch over to the title of your custom palette, and it automatically drops in.


The ColorMunki Design spectrophotometer has made creating a palette and calibrating a monitor much more streamlined.