Digital BW, The Print

At 11:28 PM -0800 11/29/03, Tom Baker wrote:
>A RIP (Rastor Image Processor) is a specialized piece of software 
>that, essentially, replaces the printer drivers supplied by the 
>printer manufacturer.  RIP's actually come in several specialties. 
>Some specialize in print shop type activities, publishing, etc. 
>They provide facilities that the manufacturer's drivers don't.  In 
>addition, however, the manufacturer's drivers do not do a very good 
>job of photographic printing.  That's where Imageprint comes in.  It 
>is a RIP developed with the primary purpose of serving photographers 
>needs, both in terms of utility and image quality. 
>
>The RIP's are all more or less expensive. [snip]

Maybe Tom was, probably with good reason, thinking in a Microsoft 
Windows context when he wrote this, because Roy Harrington makes his 
Quad Tone Rip (QTR) available at no charge on

<http://harrington.com>

Although there's arguably never been a better time, not everyone can, 
would, or should switch to a Mac or even upgrade to MacOS X. But in 
addition to that heavily-sweetened Apple flavor of Unix, there's also 
a Linux QTR option on Roy Harrington's site. It's free too, but I'm a 
wimp, and besides, Christmas is coming ... .
--
Sam