Colormunki Photo from X-Rite is a multi-purpose USB colour management device.

It is designed to allow complete calibration and control of the colour workflow ­ from profiling your monitor through to profiling your printer and even to gathering and analysing spot colours from any surface.
A large, rotating dial in the centre of the Colormunki’s casing houses a light source and light sensor.

The dial has a single button on one side and a translucent white index marker on both sides, which is illuminated by pulsing white LEDs. The measurement mode is selected by rotating the dial to line the sensor up with appropriate apertures in the outer case, while the vertical position is used to measure ambient light; between there and 90 degrees clockwise it measures reflected light from projector screens.

Self-calibration is at 135 degrees and the 180-degree position is used for both display calibration and reading print samples. A small catch in the corner of the case releases a sprung flap; a notch in this flap can be used to line up the Colormunki to measure reflected light ­ for example, spot colour ­ from any surface.

The CD install is only a link to download the latest software and help file from the Colormunki website, which is not much help if you don’t have an internet connection, and installation is limited to three PCs only. For display profiling, the Colormunki is placed into the provided pouch and suspended over the screen using the weighted strap to hold it in place.

The measurement software displays in various shades of charcoal with minimal spot colours to give a crisp, step-by-step guide, with clear diagrams of how to proceed. The sparse documentation and help files are disappointing, but overall the quality of the Colormunki hardware is impressive.