Digital BW, The Print

> But there is an EPSON RIP around. First made available for the EPSON
> 2200, later for the EPSON 2100. I take it that it is the same piece
of
> software.

I can't tell for sure, but I believe you are talking about the
Epson "Pro" RIP, which is about $200.  Well, frankly, I think it's
shameful for Epson to charge ANYTHING for a product that allows
the printer to do what they strongly imply it can do "out of the
box", that is, produce decent (i.e. metamerism-free) B&W prints.
And some comments here suggest that the Epson RIP is poorly
documented and has a bit of a learning curve.

That being said, if you're on a Mac, there is a FREE product called
OpenPrintMaker, available at www.bowhaus.com/inkjetcontrol, which
does a pretty nice job.  If you spring for $200, you get a companion
tool that enables you to customize your profiles, which capability
I THINK is unavailable elsewhere at ANY price.  For the free product,
there basically is no learning curve.

People here also are discussing something called QuadTone RIP; 
I'm not sure what it costs, what printers/inks it works on, etc.
But there's a lot of talk about it - people seem to like it.
What the pros and cons  are versus OpenPrintMaker, I'm just not
sure.  I'm confused too ...

John