GretagMacbeth shows ways how to measure color directly in the process. GretagMacbeth Online Color Measurement. GretagMacbeth GmbH has become X-Rite GmbH in September 2012 but the team is still the same. X-Rite, previously. Read Preview.pdf f S text version. User Manual. 9. 1 Spectrolino with NO filter 2 Calibration plate with white. representing the following manufacturer Gretag-Macbeth AG Althardstrasse 70 CH-8105 Regensdorf.
Gretag. Macbeth Spectro. Scan T x/y table Repair. I own a Gretag. Macbeth Spectro. Scan T x/y table that is used to read and measure test charts used in the creation of ICC printer profiles. I bought this unit used about eight years ago, and it has served me well throughout this time. However, I recently tried to read a target with the Spectro. Scan to create a new printer profile, and the device failed and returned an error.
I own a GretagMacbeth SpectroScan T x/y table that is used to read and measure test charts used in the creation of ICC printer profiles. I bought this unit used about eight years ago, and it has served me well throughout this time. For more information about the Spectrolino and SpectroScan, please contact your nearest GretagMacbeth representative. Spectrolino Spectral analysis: with a holographic diffraction grating Spectral range:380 to 730 nm.
- GretagMacbeth Spectrolino in Business & Industrial, Printing & Graphic Arts, PrePress Equipment | eBay.
- . Gretag Macbeth Densitometer D200 I Measurement / Automatic Chart. Densitometer D200 I page 1 / 6. www.brakensiek.com/ERP/40697/Gretag-Macbeth-Densitometer-D200-II-with-Datasheet-Test-report. Spectrolino Profilemaker.
Gretag Macbeth Spectroscan transmission tested from Monaco software. creating a test profile on standard paper to show functionality.
In this article, I’ll show you how I problem- solved and ultimately fixed it. Gretag. Macbeth manufactured two different Spectro. Scan x/y tables, one with transmission capability and one without. The one I have is capable of measuring transmissive readings and is designated as Spectro. Scan T (note the capitol letter T for transmission).
Throughout this article, I will shorten the name and simply use Spectro. Scan to reference my device. If you’re not familiar with the Spectro. Scan x/y table, then allow me to explain. In simple terms, it is a device that controls a spectrophotometer, which in this case is a Spectro.
Lino spectrophotometer. The Spectro. Scan is called an x/y table because it’s able to position the Spectro. Lino in both the x and y axes. It also tilts the Spectro. Lino up and down as it maneuvers and takes measurements. Finally, the Spectro.
Scan communicates with software on a computer over a serial line by receiving and sending commands between the computer and the Spectro. Lino, thereby telling the Spectro. Lino to take a measurement of a specific color patch on a test chart and send that result back to the computer.
A typical chart will take about an hour to measure. The software I use in conjunction with the Spectro. Scan is Profile. Maker 5. This is actually a suite of applications which include Profile. Maker, Measure. Tool, Profile. Editor, and Color.
Picker. Although this package is no longer available, it is still considered a very powerful suite of applications that many photographers continue to use today. Within the suite of applications, I specifically use Measure. Tool with my Spectro.
Scan. This application communicates with the Spectro. Scan, collects the measurement readings, and saves them to a file that is ultimately used with Profile. Maker to create a printer profile.
Measure. Tool is rather straight- forward and something that I’ve successfully used in the past on many occasions. The computer I use with Profile.
Maker and the Spectro. Scan is running Windows XP, and serial communication is through a Keyspan serial- to- USB adapter (P/N USA- 1. HS). At one point, this was the latest operating system that Profile. Maker would run on due to the HASP authorization dongle not having a compatible driver with newer operating systems. This is no longer the case as a new driver is now available for Windows 7, so I can install Profile. Maker on just about any computer.
Furthermore, if I had an Apple computer, that would be another option as well. THE PROBLEMWhen I attempted to read a target recently, Measure.
Tool gave me an error: “The instrument was not found. Error 2. 03. 04)“. Although I’ve received this error message in the past, I’ve always been able to overcome it by rebooting the device and making sure I was connected properly.
Therefore, I took the following steps to troubleshoot my problem: Tried two different Keyspan serial- to- USB adapters. Tried several different USB cables. Tried multiple USB ports. Tried combinations of the above on two different computers, Windows XP and Windows 7.
Tested continuity of each circuit on the 2. All were good. Tried resetting the Spectro. Lino as outlined on page 1. User Guide. None of the above changes had any affect in resolving the problem. So I called a fellow photographer who owns the same machine and asked if I could borrow his.
В Spectro. Lino to try on my Spectro. Scan. Unfortunately, with a different Spectro. Lino attached to the table, my problem still wasn’t resolved.
At this point I began thinking that the issue was with the Spectro. Scan table and not the Spectro. Lino, but I wanted confirmation that my Spectro. Lino was working. To do so, I connected the Spectro. Lino directly to the computer with the necessary cabling and hardware: В a mini- DIN cable (3. Gretag external power supply, a mini- DIN adapter (3.
Keyspan Serial- to- USB adapter. The diagram below from the User Guide shows the setup. The only difference is that a Keyspan adapter was inserted between the last cable and the computer. Voila! It worked, and I was able to successfully reset the Spectro. Lino, connect with Measure. Tool, and take a spot reading. Therefore, I conclusively confirmed that my Spectro.
Lino was functional and that the problem was definitely with the Spectro. Scan table and not the Spectro.
Lino. SEEKING REPAIRI had gotten to a point where there was nothing else I could do to solve the problem, and I felt that I needed to get the device repaired. Gretag. Macbeth, however, no longer provided support. In fact, they are no longer around because they were purchased and taken over by X- Rite many years ago, who also no longer supports the Spectro. Scan. What I’ve learned, though, is repair services for these old devices in the United States was once available through Ernst Hohmann at Automation Engineering, who X- Rite supposedly contracted with. Indeed, I actually spoke with him many years ago regarding another issue with my Spectro. Scan. But when I tried to reach out to him regarding my current problem, his contact info was a dead end, and I haven’t been able to locate him. So I suspect that he’s either moved or no longer offers his repair services.
Either way, I was unaware of any repair company to help me, so I was forced to attempt the repair myself. When trying to repair electrical equipment, it’s always best to have a schematic and a service manual. However, after searching the internet for as long as I could handle, I was still empty- handed. I knew it was a long shot, but I reached out to tech support at X- Rite and inquired about getting the necessary documents.
Although polite, the individual I was conversing with claimed that X- Rite no longer supported or serviced these units and that a schematic or service manual was unavailable. No surprise there. He did say, however, that he would contact a colleague in the UK that may be of help. After a week of waiting, nothing ever materialized, so I was definitely on my own in solving the problem, and disadvantaged at that.
But hey! What did I have to lose? The Spectro. Scan wasn’t working, so it wasn’t like I was going to be any worse off as I tore it apart to investigate.
With that said, a level of pragmatism was necessary, so I put haste aside and approached the problem systematically. Let me describe the issue in more detail. SYMPTOMS AND OBSERVATIONSPowering Up. When first powering up the Spectro. Scan, beeps were not emitted from the Spectro.
Lino, which is abnormal behavior. The standard startup procedure when applying power to the Spectro. Lino is to emit beeps, indicating a power on OK status. This is true when the Spectro.
Lino is connected directly to a computer or via the Spectro. Scan. Either way, no beeps indicates a problem.
After this, the next step is for the Spectro. Lino to move to home base over the calibration tile. In my case, this occurred and appeared normal.
Software. Within Measure. Tool, the first step is to configure the Device and Port. This entails selecting the Spectro. Scan instrument from a drop- down list and choosing the communications Port. I use AUTO for the port, which has always worked fine. When I choose these settings, the status is returned as OK. Next, I select. В Measuring Chart to begin scanning a target.
After choosing the correct Test Chart, I click the Start button to begin the process. Immediately, the Spectro. Scan jumps into action and moves the Spectro. Lino to home base over the calibration tile. This is normal behavior and expected.
However, this is where the process stops and after a short while a pop- up window displays: “The instrument was not found. Error 2. 03. 04)“. HYPOTHESISWith the symptoms and observations outlined, I was able to detail what worked and what did not work and thereby come up with a hypothesis. I felt confident that the serial communication between the computer and the Spectro. Scan was working.
This was a two- part deduction. First, Measure. Tool was able to communicate with the Spectro. Scan during Configuration, and the status was indicated as OK. Although I didn’t use a Serial Port Monitor application to actually read the serial port data, the general assumption is that some sort of handshaking must happen to pass this stage. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to configure the device within Measure. Tool, and the Status would not be indicated as OK.
What’s important here is the absence of an error message during configuration. Secondly, when initiating a Measuring Chart task, the Spectro. Lino moves to home base over the calibration tile before it fails and produces an error.
Therefore,В this indicates that commands are sent to the Spectro. Scan to initiate the process.
Otherwise, if serial communication was broken, then nothing would happen when the Start button is clicked. With this information, I was able to confirm that the serial driver/receiver chip and the main processor chip were functioning correctly. Let me explain. As mentioned earlier, Measure.
Tool must handshake in some way with the Spectro. Scan during configuration by sending a command to the Spectro. Scan, which signals a response to complete the setup. If this is the case, the serial command must be received and decoded by the serial driver/receiver chip before traveling to the main processor.
Furthermore, the main processor subsequently sends a command back to the computer alerting of its presence and status, thus establishing a connection. If you’re still not convinced, think of the actions of the stepper motors thus far, which are the motors used to position the Spectro. Lino. At this juncture, all three motors were capable of control via the front panel.