Administration > Measurement Devices
Availability: All Versions
In this Article we'll learn about,
- How to create a Measurement Device in the Workflow
- How to Configure and change the corresponding Parameter Sets
- How to set a Measurement Device as default for Color Setup Profiling.
You can set up multiple Measurement Devices with the appropriate configurations. However, only one Measurement Device may be connected via USB per Workstation/Server Configuration. However, Measurement Devices which are connected via a unique IP address can be connected and used simultaneously.
1. Requirements
The following requirements must be met in order to start successfully measuring with your Measurement Device:
- All current drivers for the selected Measurement Device must be installed on the Workflow server.
- The device is connected and accessible via a network, USB or WIFI
- The Measurement Device needs to be switched on
To use a Measurement Device in the Workflow, first we must successfully set up and configure it. To set up a Measurement Device, four steps must be completed:
- Select Measurement Devices under Administration > Measurement Devices in Workflow
- Create a new Measurement Device
- Create one or more Parameters Sets for the selected Measurement Device or select a default Parameter Set.
- Choose the desired Parameters for the selected Parameter Set.
2. Select Measurement Devices
- Select Administration > Measurement Devices from the menu. Three panels are displayed:
- Devices [1] – Contains a list of all configured Measurement Devices for the Workflow. A Device must be created for each type of connection when/if the Device has different interfaces available, i.e (LAN, USB, WIFI). After installation, the Devices' settings panel is empty. Users should always create and configure their Devices in advance.
- Parameter Sets [2] – In addition to the default Parameter Set, which is created automatically when creating a new Measurement Device, alternative configurations (e.g. reflected light, transmitted light, ...) for the selected Measuring Device can be created in Parameter Sets panel.
- Parameters [3] – A list of all available Parameters that are available for the selected Device.
Figure 1: The Measurement Device area with three settings panels: Devices [1], Parameter Sets [2] and Parameters [3].
3. Creating and removing Measurement Devices
3.1. Creating a Measurement Device
Proceed as follows to create the Barbieri Spectro Pad, which should be accessible via WIFI:
- Click on +New [4] in the footer of the Devices panel.
- The add Measurement Device dialog will open (Figure 2).
- First select the desired Measurement Device from the Device Type drop-down [7]. All Devices in the Workflow that are available will be visible here. If you cannot find your Device in the list, this Device is not currently connected or supported.
Figure 2: Below, a dialog containing all essential information for setting up the Barbieri Spectro Pad, which will be connected via WIFI.
- Depending on the selected Measurement Device, the dialog may change slightly. To set up the Barbieri Spectro Pad Device, the following information must be entered or selected:
- The Name [8] for the instrument is automatically generated. However, you can overwrite or add to the name. If you want to access the Measurement device via different interfaces, we suggest you add the connection type to the name, i.e., WIFI, USB, etc. If you have several Measurement Devices of the same type, you should adapt the name for the Device according to your preferred naming strategy.
- The user can optionally enter a Serial Number for the Device. This serial number is transferred to the Measurement Data so that it is possible to see which Device was used to generate the Measurement Data.
- Select the desired Connection [9] for establishing a connection to the Device. Serial, Ethernet, USB or Wifi are available depending on the type of device. In our example we will select Wifi.
- The IP input field is only available if WIFI or Ethernet was selected under Connection. Enter the IP address of the Measurement Device.
- To finish creating the Measurement Device you can click on Save.
- After saving, a default Parameter Set, is created.
We have now created the Barbieri Spectro Pad via WIFI and created a default Parameter Set. The Measurement Device is now ready to perform measurements and create a Color Setup.
Testing the connection to the Measurement Device
After creating a Measurement Device, the user should confirm whether or not the Device is connected properly. To check the connection, you need to start the measurement process. The easiest way to do this is to create a system-wide color definition under Color > Manage Spot Colors > Edit Spot Color Definition and select the configured Measurement Device and Parameter Set in the footer of the dialog and start a measurement. If the Measurement Device starts the measurement process, the configuration is clearly working; if, however, a connection error occurs, you will see a warning message.
3.2. Remove a Measurement Device
Measurement Devices which are no longer used should be promptly removed as to avoid confusion regarding which Devices are correctly configured, up to date, etc. Proceed as follows to remove a Device:
- Select the Device you want to delete under the Devices panel.
- Click on Delete [5], which opens the Delete Measurement Device dialog (Figure 3).
- If you want to know which references (Cascades) exist for this Device, click on Show Cascades [10].
- Click OK to remove the Measurement Device.
Figure 3: The Delete Measurement Device dialog.
Deleting a Measurement Device that has already been used in the Workflow.
If a Measurement Device has been previously used to create Color Setups, there will be corresponding references to the Device created in the background. These references must be resolved if you delete a Measurement Device, which may lead to a situation where you can no longer measure a profile that has been successfully measured.
You can see which references currently exist for the Device by clicking on Show Cascades [10].
4. Create, Edit and Delete Parameter Sets
4.1. Create a Parameter Set
Once you have created your Measurement device, a default Parameter Set is automatically created with standard parameters. This default Parameter Set can be edited or deleted at any time.
To create your own Parameter Set – e.g. for measuring Spot Colors based on M1 – proceed as follows:
- Click on +New button [11] in the Parameter Sets panel.
Figure 4: The Parameter Sets panel with the default Measurement Parameter Set selected.
- The add Measurement Parameter Set dialog opens (Figure 5).
- Enter the Name [14] for this Measurement Parameter Set. Our suggestion is that the name is as descriptive as possible indicating which measurement mode is being selected, therefore avoiding confusion when profiling.
- You can also add a Comment (optional).
- Save [15] your Parameter Set.
Figure 5: The add Measurement Parameter Set dialog with a Name and Comment.
Which settings are used for Parameter Sets?
If you create your own Parameter Set, the parameters are chosen and created by default per manufacturer standards. After creating a custom Parameter Set, you should make all changes right away to ensure that the Parameter Set has the correct settings appropriate for the profiling task at hand.
You can find out how to change the Parameters under Editing Parameters.
4.2. Edit a Parameter Set
If you want to rename the default Parameter Set, proceed as follows:
- Select the default Parameter Set under the Parameter Sets panel.
- Click on Edit [12] (Figure 4)
- The edit Measurement Parameter Set dialog (Figure 5) will open.
- Here you can make changes to the Name and Comment.
- Click on Save to confirm the changes you made.
4.3. Delete a Parameter Set
For example, if you want to delete the default Parameter Set, proceed as follows:
- Select the default Parameter Set under the Parameter Sets panel.
- Click on Delete [13] (Figure 4)
- The delete Measurement Parameter Set dialog (Figure 6) will open.
- A click on OK deletes the configuration including all references (Cascades).
Figure 6: The delete Measurement Parameter Set dialog which requires confirmation when deleting a Parameter Set.
5. Editing Parameters
Last but not least, the selected Parameters determine with which settings the Measurement is performed. To select the Parameters for Spot Color measurement with M1, proceed as follows:
- Select the Parameter Set [17] created in Figure 5 under the Parameter Sets panel.
- The Parameters for the Parameter Set are displayed under the Parameters [18] settings panel. Parameters are automatically set and stored when a Measurement Parameter Set is created.
Figure 7: The settings panels for Parameter Sets and Parameters with the new Parameter Set and Parameters shown.
- To change the Device Mode to Spot, select the Device Mode entry under the Measurement Parameter settings and click Edit [19].
- The Edit Measurement Parameter dialog will open.
- The parameter bar [20] shows the user which parameter is currently being edited.
- Select Spot [21] in the drop-down menu instead of Page.
- Click on Save
Figure 8: The Edit Measurement Parameter dialog for making changes to the Parameter Device Mode.
- To switch the Device to M1, select Measurement Condition under Parameters and click on Edit [19] again.
- Select the M1 value instead of the M0 value in the drop-down menu.
- Click on Save again to confirm your changes.