Digital BW, The Print

Hi all

What is the advantage in using RIP software ie Imageprint on a 
desktop inkjet printer.

I use an Epson 1290s with custom profiles and do get vary good 
results, both colour and Grey scale.

Is their any advantage in using RIP software.

Thanks

Paul

Paul,

RIP's are nice if you are running a fully calibrated
system.  At my university we had an epson 9600 with
all the trimmings that gave horrible color.  They paid
$9000 for everything and never took the time to set it
up correctly, so a RIP is as good as you want it to be
on desktop or large format printers.

With my purchase of an Epson 3200 about 1.5 years back
I received the Monaco color matching software and
profile targets.  Additionally I purchased a Monaco
Optix, which is a color reader/profiler for monitors. 
This alone solved all of my problems with color
calibration and custom profiling that costs under
$400.  A custom profile deals with color well, however
on your printer (1290s); you will not get rid of all
color casts when printing greyscale with color ink.

Is your purpose to use your printer for color and
black and white printing?  Then if you want neutral
black and white prints with color inks installed, the
only way to do that is by printing Black Only.  The
1290 is an excellent printer for BO, but the larger
you print the better the image will appear.  I print
6x9 or 8x12 and am impressed with the results.  BO's
only drawback is the appearance of dots in the
highlights visible around 5%.  Everyday viewers don't
care about the dots, but they are visible.  However,
if you have a large even field of highlight dots, it
is distracting to any viewer and the image looks very
mechanical.  I have recently resurrected an 1160 for
BO printing and am highly satisfied with the results. 
Most on this list who print via BO utilize MIS Eboni
black - it is quite beautiful and it is the simplest
method of neutral printing.

If you only want to print black and white, you would
be better off replacing the Epson inks with a monotone
inkset (MIS Full Spectrum/UT2/Piezography) all which
utilize the epson driver.  Your results will be
incredible, but here is the kick.  The black only
method imports a much more luminous quality to the
final print, and is an equal or better print except in
the highlight detail mentioned above.  And you will
not be able to print color, unless you swap
cartridges.  

Don


--- Paul <ps.harris@...> wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> What is the advantage in using RIP software ie
> Imageprint on a 
> desktop inkjet printer.
> 
> I use an Epson 1290s with custom profiles and do get
> vary good 
> results, both colour and Grey scale.
> 
> Is their any advantage in using RIP software.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Paul



		
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--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul" 
<ps.harris@b...> wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> What is the advantage in using RIP software ie Imageprint on a 
> desktop inkjet printer.
> 
> I use an Epson 1290s with custom profiles and do get vary good 
> results, both colour and Grey scale.
> 
> Is their any advantage in using RIP software.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Paul

Hi Paul

The Raster Image Processing is that which essentially transforms the 
RGB information from the picture into CMYK for the printer, hopefully
in a correct way. It controls how the ink droplets are spread on the 
paper- so essentially, it will bypass the original Epson engine.
Black and white RIP's are also designed specifically for mixes of 
grey and should (provided they are well thought out) have an edge 
over the Epson interface (even if corrected via curves). Based on 
the posts I've seen there seems to be still a lot of controversy as 
to whether the added cost of a RIP is justified for delivering 
superior rendering compared to the Epson driver + curves method.
There is of course also the black only method where you don't stand 
to gain by using a RIP- I don't think it would be possible to offer 
definitive judgement, a lot has to do with the original content of 
the photo, paper, your artistic intent and viewer perception. The 
best way would probably be for you to be able to examine photos 
rendered via RIP or traditionally and make up your own mind.

Good luck 1

Andrei