Calibrize

3.0 stars

"Doesnt work on Windows 7"

July 29, 2010  |   By Wasn't Me

Version: Calibrize 2

Pros

This worked really well on my XP machine but not when I upgraded to Windows 7. Now, it wont save the color adjustment

Cons

This worked really well on my XP machine but not when I upgraded to Windows 7. It also occasionally loses your settings

Summary

You need an older OS to run this thing.

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2.0 stars

"not really free..."

October 8, 2009  |   By konastephen

Version: Calibrize 2

Pros

it works. it's simple (maybe too simple).

Cons

it's not free.

it only allows for adjustments by eyeballing and sliding sliders.

Summary

On their website they say it's free. It's not. You can play with it but if you want to save your adjustments you have to pay. That seems dishonest and manipulative to me. Why not just say right up front that it costs $30 and you can try it for free instead of calling it "free"?

That pet peeve aside, the real downer is that the interface doesn't allow for adjustments by detailed technical info. If you're like me you want to make adjustments at the pixel level by the numbers and not with some imprecise slider. Sliders are for amateurs and web designers.

if you do professional graphic design for high end print on a Windows platform, stop and get a Mac. If you can't afford a Mac or you also happen to have to process huge batches constantly and don't want to bother with Mac's slow and unstable number-crunching then just buy this utility and don't bother with the "free to try" crappola, but hope and pray for a better tool in the near future (and for someone to write about it somewhere).

Updated on Nov 4, 2009

Photographers BEWARE!!! This little program created huge headaches for me with Adobe LR on my big beautiful Vista VAIO. While at first I was relatively pleased with the ability to manhandle the color balance of my monitor to make print ICC profiles match printed proofs to my eye (useful for print work I was doing in ID at the time), when a few weeks later I went to open my LR to begin editing images for my next big job, all the LR previews had disappeared. Wow. Nearly a week of frantic problem solving later, after finally taking the last resort step of massive emergency backup, wiping my hard drive, re-installing my OS from scratch then all my software (which did fix the "mystery" LR problem that no support tech could figure out for me) I foolishly reinstalled this app and BAM!, the problem was back. There was no way to fix it except by the same extreme measure I took in the first place. My rating now: -100%!!! Don't do it. This software is crap. Run! Get away while you still can!!!

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4.0 stars

"Very Simple, Easy to make gamma corrections, and free!"

January 26, 2009  |   By EternalFusion

Version: Calibrize 2

Pros

Small file size, easy to follow instructions, makes adjustments permanent without any technical knowledge, nice interface.

Cons

Doesn't tell you what the gamma adjustments are, and doesn't use any software color management options other than for the gamma levels (On my screen the brightness needed to be lowered beyond what the monitor's controls allowed).

Summary

Understandable instructions, simple interface, simple adjustments, and low cost (its free) combine to make Calibrize 2 a great monitor calibration software, but the lack of more detailed tests and calibrations keep it from a perfect 5/5. Definitely a strong and simple calibration software best used for basic or novice monitor calibration.

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