RIPS

[Melodi]

From my limited experience printing B&W, I've found that Eric Chan's ABW profiles are incredible; however, if one wants to split-tone prints, the Epson RGB driver must be used.  

If one wants to use Eric's ABW profiles and tone prints, Epson's toning functionality is lacking the ability to tone only the mid-tones.  It lays color over the entire photo which is definitely not desirable to me.

So if one tones through photoshop or NIK software or any other method and then attempts to print using Epson's RGB driver, the results are lack luster. I've compared the prints from the Eric Chan's ABW profiles and the prints from the Epson RGB, and one can easily see a large amount of loss of quality, i.e. tonal separation especially in the mid-tones.  It takes a lot of time and wasted paper to tweak the prints to get them looking good using Epson's RGB driver in order to get split-toned B&W prints.

So my question is why, considering the above, do others state that RIPs are not necessary?  It seems that they can save paper and ink and sanity.

Thanks for your feedback.

[PeterAit]

From my limited experience printing B&W, I've found that Eric Chan's ABW profiles are incredible; however, if one wants to split-tone prints, the Epson RGB driver must be used.  

If one wants to use Eric's ABW profiles and tone prints, Epson's toning functionality is lacking the ability to tone only the mid-tones.  It lays color over the entire photo which is definitely not desirable to me.

So if one tones through photoshop or NIK software or any other method and then attempts to print using Epson's RGB driver, the results are lack luster. I've compared the prints from the Eric Chan's ABW profiles and the prints from the Epson RGB, and one can easily see a large amount of loss of quality, i.e. tonal separation especially in the mid-tones.  It takes a lot of time and wasted paper to tweak the prints to get them looking good using Epson's RGB driver in order to get split-toned B&W prints.

So my question is why, considering the above, do others state that RIPs are not necessary?  It seems that they can save paper and ink and sanity.

Thanks for your feedback.

I'd like to know more about RIPs, too. I understand that they speed printing, important for the pro shop but not for everyone. How much real benefit do they provide? I think that ImagePreint is the most popular and best known RIP, but their prices and policies are obscene. I would need some really convincing evidence of utility (in the sense of better prints) before I sell Granny's wheelchair to buy the software!

[wthomphoto]

My experience with Image Print is that it's a fantastic program with my Epson P4000 printer, but they don't know what "customer service" means.  I had a problem with my hard drive, and had to reinstall all my programs and updates. I reinstalled OSX and all of the updates first, then I installed all my programs including Image Print.  Image Print worked the first time I tried it, but now anytime I shut the computer down, and turn back on, when I try to open Image Print I get the message "couldn't connect socket in ip_config". If I reinstall the software, it works perfectly.  I went to Image Print's web site, and it listed a fix for this problem, but when I tried to download it, it said that the fix was no longer available.  I called Image Print customer service, and they informed me that the fix was no longer available because my version of Image Print is no longer available. They said the problem resulted in my reinstalling the OSX updates, and the program software and updates in a different order that originally done.  Suggested that I upgrade to the "new" version. I informed them in so many words, that I would never pay another penny to Image Print.  So, consequently every time I shut down my computer, if I want to print thru Image Print, I have to reinstall the software.

[PeterAit]

My experience with Image Print is that it's a fantastic program with my Epson P4000 printer, but they don't know what "customer service" means.  I had a problem with my hard drive, and had to reinstall all my programs and updates. I reinstalled OSX and all of the updates first, then I installed all my programs including Image Print.  Image Print worked the first time I tried it, but now anytime I shut the computer down, and turn back on, when I try to open Image Print I get the message "couldn't connect socket in ip_config". If I reinstall the software, it works perfectly.  I went to Image Print's web site, and it listed a fix for this problem, but when I tried to download it, it said that the fix was no longer available.  I called Image Print customer service, and they informed me that the fix was no longer available because my version of Image Print is no longer available. They said the problem resulted in my reinstalling the OSX updates, and the program software and updates in a different order that originally done.  Suggested that I upgrade to the "new" version. I informed them in so many words, that I would never pay another penny to Image Print.  So, consequently every time I shut down my computer, if I want to print thru Image Print, I have to reinstall the software.

Customer service aside, what does Image Print let you do that you could not do without it?

[Kumar]

I have ImagePrint Lite V6 for the 2200. Though I've got quick responses to technical questions, what leaves me puzzled is why they would pull older versions of the programs from their servers.

And it's not just Colorbyte. I was given a dongle for BestColor XXL. But I don't have the actual software, nor did I know which version I had. I sent emails to EFI Global and EFI Japan without even an acknowledgement, forget about a response. Finally, Julian Massi from Spectraflow helped me figure out which version I had (v4.6.3). He gave me a contact address at EFI, but the only response I got when I asked for a copy of the software was "Upgrade!". EFI wouldn't even let me get on to their forum, where I could have asked someone for a copy. But EFI did put me on their marketing email list, without my ever subscribing to it!

So, does anyone have a copy of BestColor 4.6.3?

Cheers,
Kumar

[Kumar]

Customer service aside, what does Image Print let you do that you could not do without it?

IP gets me the best B&W possible. QTR can also do an excellent job. But it's a little more work.

Cheers,
Kumar

[ckimmerle]

IP gets me the best B&W possible. QTR can also do an excellent job. But it's a little more work.

What Kumar said! IP is a painful purchase, but it's worth every penny, at least to me. In addition to the B&W benefits (gorgeous, btw) you can batch print to a specific size, saving a lot of time and effort, which is wonderful for doing test prints.

[digitaldog]

I'd like to know more about RIPs, too.

Here’s a start:
http://www.ppmag.com/reviews/200609_rodneycm.pdf

[Kirk Gittings]

IP gets me the best B&W possible. QTR can also do an excellent job. But it's a little more work.

Cheers,
Kumar

Ditto, I've been using it for many years. Every once in awhile I try something else to see if I am missing something, but always go back to it.