Digital BW, The Print

This is shaping up as a year with, at long last, significant software options for b/w 
printers with various needs and budgets. Assuming image quality doesn't vary 
subsantially, here's a brief overview.

Piezography/R9 plug-in:
Great if you're using the original inkset, but many users experienced 
compatability issues with the subsequently released PiezoTones inks. A proprietary 
profile generator means you can never make profiles yourself, or adjust them to 
compensate for individual printer variation or drift. 

PiezographyBW ICC profiles:
Inexpensive, and can be accessed through any ICC-compliant software. In 
Photoshop, you can soft-proof the various profiles, so no need for custom dot gain 
monitor tweaks. Allows glossy printing on Canon machines. Relies on a proprietary 
profile generator, so you can never make profiles yourself, but it appears you may 
purchase custom profiles from a single vendor--IJM.

ImagePrint 5:
More expensive than the first two options, and many find the 90 day tech support 
policy lacking. You do get great page layout and production features (very 
beneficial for the 24 and 44" printers). A proprietary profile generator means you 
can never make profiles yourself, but custom profiles can be purchased from a 
single vendor--Colorbyte (do you see a pattern?).*for color work, you can create 
your own ICC profiles* 

InkJetControl:
Inexpensive and allows for user control of linearization and calibration, so you can 
"profile" to your heart's delight. There's lots of missing functionality in this first 
release (ie paper size limit, OS support) and none of the page layout features 
necessary for practical use on the 24 and 44" printers.

PiezoPro: 
discontinued, and the R9 version seems set to be replaced by a new version. 
FWIW, while print quality was superb with the original Piezography inks, the 
interface and functionality of this RIP was nobody's idea of fun, and it was very 
inefficient in a medium to heavy production environment.

StudioPrint:
Due for release in April, this product is geared towards the 24 and 44" printers, as 
it inherits layout and workflow capability from PosterPrint, the company's long-
standing color RIP. It comes with built-in linearization capabilities for quad inks so 
you can generate custom greyscale profiles on your own. Also exciting is the 
ability to turn print heads on or off and reorder them. Two examples where this 
would be helpful: you could load "toning" inks in the Lc, Lm positions and run 
those on only selected print jobs. Similarly you could load 2 different black inks in 
the heads and switch back and forth between them on a per print basis. 

Colorburst:
The current version, while not directly supporting quad inks, places all the print 
head control and linearization in the hands of the user. For color work, it comes 
with built-in profile making software based, I believe, on MonacoProof. In theory, 
you should be able to create calibrations and ink limiting for quadtone output. 
Hopefully I'll be able to try this for myself in the very near future.

While there can be debates over the merits of each solution, the fact that we now 
have these choices is no small victory. You can go cheap and sacrifice some user 
control of the print engine. You can invest some cash on a densitometer and your 
time to make custom paper/ink profiles, thereby ensuring extremely consistent 
output over the life of the printer. You can drop a lot of cash and buy a RIP that is 
flexible enough for critical color work as well. Whatever you do, don't forget to go 
out and make some great photographs to print.

Amadou Diallo