Epson 3800 Professional Edition

[gmgrant]

Just wondering what your thoughts were on the need for ordering the Professional version of the 3800 as opposed to the normal version.

Does the included RIP make a huge difference in image quality or usability?

Is it better to buy a third party RIP ?

I will not be using the printer for high production output or "packages" of prints, so I am mostly wondering if the RIP effects image quality much.

Thanks in advance.

gg

[Marty C]

The Epson RIP will give you the ability to nest different images together for more efficient use of paper. As for quality of the print I would say you will see a little improvement. The big drawback is you can only use the profiles that are supplied by Epson. You can not use third party profiles, unless you spend the additional money to upgrade.to the full version of Colorbyte.

[michael]

Marty,

Your information is incorrect. The 3800 Pro edition comes with a Colorburst RIP, not the RIP from Colorbytes. It also comes with Postscript.

The Colorburts RIP can use any ICC/ICM profile.

Whether one needs the Pro edition of this printer comes down to whether one needs Postcript printing capability and a RIP. The price is certainly right, if one does.

I am not familar with the Colorburst RIP so I don't know the extent to which they do their own "screening". If they do then there might be an improvement in image quality, though if there is it will likely be quite small.

Michael

[jjlphoto]

I have found the 3800's standard Epson driver to be excellent, a quantum leap from earlier models. B&W quality is excellent, nuetral with no color casts or metamerism. Color is excellent as well. The 3800 has a new dithering algorithm with tighter dots than the 4800 as well.

http://www.inkjetart.com/3800/

Years ago, printer's drivers were not so hot, so RIPs had the obvious edge in quality, but now, I do not see the need for the added costs of a RIP unless you are a lab/service bureau and have one of the largest format printers running production jobs.

[ericstaud]

The Epson 3800 Professional is better suited to Graphic designers.  The RIP comes in use when printing layouts in Indesign (so that the type renders correctly).  The included RIP is not the brand photographers use to improve photographic printing performance.

[Marty C]

Marty,

Your information is incorrect. The 3800 Pro edition comes with a Colorburst RIP, not the RIP from Colorbytes. It also comes with Postscript.

The Colorburts RIP can use any ICC/ICM profile.

Whether one needs the Pro edition of this printer comes down to whether one needs Postcript printing capability and a RIP. The price is certainly right, if one does.

I am not familar with the Colorburst RIP so I don't know the extent to which they do their own "screening". If they do then there might be an improvement in image quality, though if there is it will likely be quite small.

Michael
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My mistake, I new it was color something? What can I tell you it was 7:00am when I wrote that.

[eronald]

Can someone plese confirm the included RIP allows user-supplied custom profiles ?
It used to be that the version bundled by Epson was a cut-down version, with only the canned profiles allowed.

Edmund