Digital BW, The Print

There has recently been a lot of discussion on this list of StudioPrint 
and PosterPrint with the general slant that these RIPs are good because 
you can easily make your own paper profiles.

What I like about ImagePrint is that the profiles are so good that I 
DON'T need custom profiles. Basically, I don't want to get into the 
bother of making my own profiles and I don't want to have to buy custom 
profiles either. However, some people on the Yahoo IP list insist that 
it's much better to make your own profiles because there is variability 
in printers, but Bruce Atkinson in his ReadMe file about his profiles 
writes:

> Most other printers vary significantly from one printer to the next, 
> requiring custom profiles for each printer. All Epson Stylus Pro 9600 
> and 7600 printers have very close tolerances, so the profiles I built 
> for my 9600 should work well on any 9600 or 7600.

Perhaps the situation is different for the 2200 printers but I really 
have not found the need for custom profile for my 7600.

I also like the absolutely neutral grayscale that ImagePrint gives, and 
the subtle toning that is possible with TintPicker.

Some people have found that highlight detail is better using the Epson 
Driver with the Atkinson profiles or, for b&w prints, with Piezography. 
Whatever high magnification may show I have seen no difference in how 
highlights look in prints same color that I have made with ImagePrint 
and with the Atkinson profiles. As for b&w, the prints that I had 
originally made with Piezography look the same in the highlights as my 
ImagePrint prints. Moreover Jon Cone has stated:

> We see ImagePrint as every bit as good as PiezographyBW Pro24 which is 
> why it was going to be the engine in Piezography2.

Basically, I really like the fact that ImagePrint is an out-of-the-box 
solution so that I don't have to buy additional hardware or profiles; 
and that it is a solution that allows me to print color and b&w on the 
same printer without changing inks, and having to get into the 
potential or real problems of running an epson with 3rd-party inks, 
which is particularly a problem in Bangkok where such inks are not 
available locally.

--Mitch/Bangkok