Digital BW, The Print

On 8/19/02 11:22 AM, "Martin Wesley" <mwesley250@...> wrote:

>> I believe that support for VM was hijacked by the new epson printer.
>> Personally, I wouldn't use VM now that the ultracromes are out for toning.
>> You can get from cool to sepia in a single ink set that you can also use
>> for color.
> 
> Well the quality with the 2200 seems to be better that I initially thought
> but due to print life it is not something I would consider for my own work.

I agree.  It is a very attractive option for commercial photographers who
want to crank out RC prints on an E-surface paper though.

> The VM and Sepia-VM offer some color complexity to the prints that I really
> like and the solutions with the 2200 seem to give infinite choice in overall
> hue but do not appear to allow you to vary it with density within a single
> print.

Correct.  Colorbyte has this type of control, but I don't believe that users
have it.
 
> This leads me to ask if this RIP gives you full channel access. In other
> words can you use it like a standard RIP to print your own custom CMYK
> separation curves?

This is one to ask Colorbyte directly.  You so have the ability to limit
individual inks...but I haven't played with it because it was a windows only
feature until the latest version.

>> There aren't a lot of profile made already...but they will make whatever
>> you need...that's the key to imageprint.
> 
> Well that part is a very good deal. Given that the PT profiles are in the
> works, what is your impression of the PT inks with IP4's Piezo profiles with
> the PT? Can you compare the results with the PT and the Piezo driver vs. PT
> with IP4 and it's Piezo profiles?

IP's profiles for the Piezotones are much, much better  than those in the
piezo plugin or Piezopro profiles.
 
>> No, the license is not nearly as much for the second printer.  Just speak
>> with them directly...my guess is that you might be able to get a second
>> desktop printer thrown in for free...but I'm not them.  I have three
>> licenses that allow me to run two desktop printers and my 7000 at the same
>> time...with good performance.
> 
> That makes more sense if the additional licenses are at a reduced cost.
> Silverfast does this with their scanning software.
> 
> I guess the question comes down to quality vs. cost. I am very willing to
> pay for additional quality if it is there. So the issue is how much of a
> quality gain is there in going from the Piezo plugin at $125 - $150 for an
> unlimited number of printers compared to IP4 at $500 for a single printer?
> Personally my interests for the near future are Selenium PT and MIS-Sepia VM
> on the 1280. If I can get smoother tonality, better Dmax and less banding
> then I might go for it. I suspect though that the price differential will
> deter most people.
> 
> One more question, some of the early IP4 prints I saw had some window screen
> pattern visible on close inspection. I have heard that this has been
> corrected. Has this been your experience?

Absolutely.  The newer dither is fantastic...the best out there in my
opinion.  This is a rapidly evolving product and each change makes it better
and better in my opinion.  The soon to be released OSX version, I believe,
will be the ultimate print engine.

Robert