RIP Questions...

[Keithw1975]

Running a print shop I am very familiar with the uses of RIPs on digital presses and film imagesetters, but so far I really haven't been able to justify buying a RIP for our wide format inkjets.

We use them for running material for trade shows, posters and the occasional banners. Our clients are very picky about their colors matching the materials we have printed with PMS spot colors on the press and the Epson 9900s we are using, without a RIP, have always hit the colors dead on. Now I realize that the RIPs have imposition features and the ability to use a spectrophotometer to calibrate it, but neither has been necessary for our work. They seem to be calibrated so well from the factory that it isn't necessary to tweak the colors.

So can anyone give me a reason to justify the cost of a RIP? And if so would you recommend Colorburst or Onyx?

[Czornyj]

no

[Farmer]

Unless you need special layout functionality and proofing requirements (like FOGRA certifications) or advanced printer load pooling or special ink limiting for doing separations then, no (as Czornyj said :-) )

[shadowblade]

Custom inksets, printing on special materials, etc.

In other words, for most people, no.

[Phil Indeblanc]

If you want to layout multiple images on one page to take up all the dead space, as you said imposition, or as mentioned, if you are providing a contract proof, or need color bars independent of software.

Also a RIP can manage/reduce the amount of ink used and still make the print look very good. The way the dots are disbursed can also be different. Some RIP's will allow you to mimic a press dot.

Colorburst if I'm not mistaken,is often bundled with Epson printers and sometimes stripped down to have minimal features vs their pro line or other versions. It is very basic.
I think Onyx has a lot of the advanced features standard.  I don't remember for sure, and they surely change. Check your needs. I would also check paper support etc.

[BobShaw]

I had a lot of problems with printing large prints on the 3880 until I got Mirage. Prints were not coming out like the preview and I think it has paid for itself in ink and paper. I am not confident that 16 bit works with the standard drivers and am very happy with the quality now.

[Farmer]

Mirage is a good compromise - not a RIP in the "traditional" sense, it's a bit more like a graphically intuitive version of ImagePrint (they're not a 100% feature match of course either direction) and it does add a lot of functionality.

[gigdagefg]

I bought Imageprint and never looked back.
I can use any paper and download the profile in seconds....every print I make looks exactly as it appears on my calibrated Ezio monitor. Never waste paper or ink...it was a no brainier for me
Stanley