Digital BW, The Print

Nice report Antonis, thanks.

Todd

> So here is some more info from my discussion with the ImagePrint people
> (http://www.colorbytesoftware.com/imageprint.htm):
> 
> - ImagePrint for the Mac is currently shipping for the 9000 with other models
> to 
> follow.
> 
> - The software is identical to Piezo2, the only difference is that Jon Cone
> adds 
> his own quad profiles. It remains to be seen if those profiles will support
> inksets other than Conetech's. As it ships from ImagePrint, Lyson, Piezo and
> some MIS profiles are included.
> 
> - In order to get a profile of a new bw ink/paper combo you print a supplied
> target and send it to Colorbyte to make a profile for you. That essentially
> makes it an open system, especially if ColorByte doesn't charge for the
> profiles.
> 
> - Colorbyte tells me that the dithering that is provided by ImagePrint is
> their 
> own and is different from whatever  earlier Piezo software uses. Since Piezo2
> is wholly based on ImagePrint, the dithering will be that of ImagePrint, not
> that 
> of PiezoBW or PiezoPro (which can be neither better nor worse, just
> different).
> 
> - In grayscale, you can feed RGB or gray files in 8 or 16 bit. They tell me
> there 
> is no discernible difference in printing a 16 bit gray file.There should be
> further 
> research on this.
> 
> - Pricing as well as copy protection is similar. Entry level 1270/80 support
> for 
> color and bw is $495, which is $100 less than Conetech, but for, say, a 9000,
> pricing is identical at $2,495. Both need a USB dongle. Functionality is
> scalable via encryption keys. You can buy the desktop model version and get
> a "key" for only that model, then pay the differrence to add a wide format and
> get a new "key". Under Mac OS 9 you can feed only one printer at a time, but
> you can line up several jobs to run at different supported and connnected
> printers one after the other. On a PC it can actually run them at the same
> time 
> (this will change with OS X).
> 
> - There is an option to add a Postscript Level 3 interpreter. Pricing depends
> on 
> the printer model (from $295 for a 1270 to $800 for a 9000). This means you
> can print pages directly from Quark or similar. A boon to bookmakers.
> 
> 
> If you missed it in the past, a review of the PC version appears here:
> http://www.luminous-landscape.com/imageprint.htm
> 
> For bw printing, it seems the main issues are the profiles (Cone vs Colorbyte)
> and the proprietary microweave. Someone like Mike Kravit who has both RIPs
> running on a 7000 can examine prints under a loupe and tell us more on the
> pros and cons. Otherwise, piezo2 seems nothing more than a rebadging of
> ImagePrint and a great indorsement of the latter at that.
> 
> For me, the unfortunate part is that we still don't have software access to
> profiling ink/paper/printer combos at the user level (as we do for color, for
> example). 
> 
> Antonis
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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