06.18.19
X-Rite Incorporated and Pantone LLC announced the new i1Pro 3 Plus, a spectral color measurement solution specifically designed for imaging, print, and textile professionals who need advanced calibration and color profiling capabilities to support today’s wide-format and industrial printing applications.
The i1Pro 3 Plus has been optimized for digital printing on a range of materials and surfaces, including ceramics, textiles, glass, metal, wood, vinyl, plastics, thin films, cardboard, paper, and more. Commercial, wide-format, grand-format, packaging, and industrial printers can now create ICC profiles for almost any substrate and calibrate print production devices for the highest level of color accuracy.
As more industries turn to digital printing, customers are putting greater emphasis on achieving accurate and repeatable color. To do this, production print equipment needs to be linearized and profiled for each substrate in order to monitor color output. Current profiling solutions are limited in their ability to measure textured, rough, or uneven surfaces and cannot accommodate various material thicknesses. Many devices do not have the resolution required to ensure the highest color quality when printing detailed patterns, metallic effects, or photography images.
“The i1Pro 3 Plus builds on the success of the i1 Family and removes the variability to create accurate ICC profiles on the widest range of materials,” said Ray Cheydleur, printing and imaging product portfolio manager, X-Rite. “Wide- and grand-format users and industrial material printers will see the immediate value by incorporating the affordable i1Pro 3 Plus into their prepress and production workflows, resulting in more accurate and repeatable color, a reduction of waste, and an increased return on investment.”
New in the i1Pro 3 Plus:
- Larger aperture of 8mm to support new materials and substrates used in digital printing applications;
- New polarization (measurement condition M3) filter that reduces specular highlights and shadows on fabrics and ceramics. It provides “better blacks” and richer colors on rough surfaces and glossy medias, like canvas prints and fine art photo papers;
- Simultaneously measure M0, M1 and M2 in a single pass to account for optical brighteners so prepress and print operators can quickly predict how colors printed on optically brightened substrates will look under different lighting conditions;
- Longer ruler for measuring the wider charts used in grand-format printing; The ruler includes an ISO-compliant white backer and removable magnetic strips on the top and sides for holding samples in place while measuring;
- New LED illuminant that improves device reliability. The i1Pr o3 Plus allows for four measurement conditions (ISO 13655 M0; M1: D50; M2: UV Excluded, M3 Polarized);
- Now supports transmission scanning for backlit film and materials used in signage;
- Measures high brightness, up to 5K NITs for ultra-bright displays.
“We are used to seeing bumpy shadow measurements from unpolarized devices on glossy textured media like canvas. With the new polarization feature in the i1Pro 3 Plus, our M3 measurements are dramatically smoother in the shadows - perfect in fact,” saidd Scott Martin, founder, Onsight, a leading workflow consultant for print, prepress, design and photography.
New X-Rite iO Table
In addition, X-Rite announced a new i1iO Automated Scanning Table that supports the i1Pro 3 Plus. This hands-free test chart reader offers automated color profiling on a variety of substrates with reduced risk of color measurement errors. It is ideal for photographers, designers, and printers who want to speed up and automate the measurement process and eliminate manual strip reading.
The new i1iO table can be used with a variety of industrial materials including textiles, ceramics, corrugated, etc. and supports materials up to 33mm thick, with the optional Z-axis spacer. It also supports transparencies and backlit materials.
At ITMA (June 20-26 in Barcelona, Spain), X-Rite and Pantone will demonstrate the i1Pro 3 Plus in Hall UL, Stand C109. X-Rite will also be showcasing the i1Pro 3 Plus at EskoWorld (June 24-26 in Nashville, TN).
The i1Pro 3 Plus and the i1iO table will be available in late July 2019.
