What software to print longer than 90-inches?

[hdomke]

Could you research for me what software will allow me to print longer than 90-inches?

Photoshop CS2 and CS3 won't!

I am especially wondering about Apple's Aperture or Adobe's Lightroom.

Or, perhaps I will need to buy a software RIP, but they can be expensive.
For the Epson 9600 buying one copy of ImagePrint software will cost me $2,500:

www.colorbytesoftware.com

All I really need is the ability to accurately print longer than 90-inches.
I would prefer not to do tiling in Adobe Illustrator, that feels messy when I have tried it.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Henry

[francois]

Could you research for me what software will allow me to print longer than 90-inches?
...I am especially wondering about Apple's Aperture or Adobe's Lightroom.
...

Henry,
I believe that Lightroom has a picture size limited to 10'000 pixels. If this is indeed true, printing longer than 90"  won't be "high quality".
I've never printed that large with Aperture but around here most users are using a RIP.

[Tim Gray]

As long as the 9800 has a "banner" mode, and you're using Windows, Qimage can deconstruct the image into chunks that the driver can deal with and seamlessly combine in the output printing process.

http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/

[Jonathan Wienke]

Tim beat me to it...three thumbs up for QImage. An excellent program, reasonably priced, and us very good at making really large prints. I've used it to print 24x72" panoramas at 150DPI on a 7600 with no problems.

[hdomke]

Tim beat me to it...three thumbs up for QImage. An excellent program, reasonably priced, and us very good at making really large prints. I've used it to print 24x72" panoramas at 150DPI on a 7600 with no problems.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=97506\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

QImage sounds like an interesting possibility, but I am on a Mac platform. I have two Epson 9600 printers.

Other ideas?

Thanks,
Henry

[Brian Gilkes]

The editing could be done on a Mac and then the file sent to a Win machine with QImage to print. You can get a Dell or similar for a few hundred $ now.
I've never used Lightroom , but Photoshop can handle up to 30,000 pixels long. I have obtained prints to 6m ie ~20', long just by printing through PS and lowering the imput resolution to just keep within the 30.000 limit. This has created no resolution problems so far as such murals are viewed at over a meter distant. The Epson x800 series interpolation to , say, 1440 dpi ensures smoothness.
HTH
Brian,
www.pharoseditions.com.au

PS Can anyone report if the situation has improved with PS CS3?
 If not it could be something that might be attended to before final release.
If so, I for one would buy it on the spot.
Is anyone at Adobe watching?

[hdomke]

but Photoshop can handle up to 30,000 pixels long.
PS Can anyone report if the situation has improved with PS CS3?[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=97540\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Brian,
I believe that the printer driver within PS limits the length to 90-inche max regardless of pixels.

I've checked with PS-CS3 and have been assured by the Adobe Design team that the 90-inch limit has not been changed.

Since Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Aperture are both new "from the ground up" I thought they might have different printing options.

Does anyone know?
I really don't want to buy a Windows box just for this. Sofware should do it.

Thanks,
Henry

[Island Design]

I use Corel -- the longest I've printed is 15' (180 inches) long by 36" wide. It is limited to 30,000 pixels too (I had to print at only 150 dpi.) So on one hand it gets past the length limitation, but it still has a resolution limitation.

[Brian Gilkes]

Henry, I have definitely printed over 6m (approx 20 feet long). I have a photo to prove it on the website!
You may be talking about on of the smaller printers. The limit on the Epson 9800 is 30,000 pixels not 90".
QImage is an answer . Any other solutions?
Espcially for Mac.
Brian
www.pharoseditions.com.au

[francois]

I haven't tested but it may be possible to run QImage on a Mac (Intel CPU only) using CrossOver Mac from CodeWeavers.
QImage is rated as untested but a trial version of CrossOver Mac is available here and QImage is also available as  a demo here. CrossOver doesn't need Windows to run.
If this combo does indeed work, this would be a much cheaper way to print (beyond 90 inches) than a full blown RIP. QImage Pro is $50 and CrossOver Mac is $60!

[BriPriUK]

Henry
If you have two printers, using QImage and a cheap PC as a print server makes a lot of sense - it will free up your Macs for the interesting stuff!

Brian Price

[Brian Gilkes]

Henry, I have definitely printed over 6m (approx 20 feet long). I have a photo to prove it on the website!
You may be talking about one of the smaller printers. The limit on the Epson 9800 is 30,000 pixels not 90". I suspect it is the same for the 7800.
QImage is an answer . Any other solutions?
Especially for Mac. It sounds like a RIP, but which one would would work best for this purpose?
While we are at it, what is the situation with the new Canon and HP printers?
Brian
www.pharoseditions.com.au

[ed j]

coreldraw ver 9, 10, 12 version 12 can be had for under $50

Could you research for me what software will allow me to print longer than 90-inches?

Photoshop CS2 and CS3 won't!

I am especially wondering about Apple's Aperture or Adobe's Lightroom.

Or, perhaps I will need to buy a software RIP, but they can be expensive.
For the Epson 9600 buying one copy of ImagePrint software will cost me $2,500:

www.colorbytesoftware.com

All I really need is the ability to accurately print longer than 90-inches.
I would prefer not to do tiling in Adobe Illustrator, that feels messy when I have tried it.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Henry
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=97500\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]