Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: hugowolf on February 14, 2014, 04:40:01 pm

Title: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: hugowolf on February 14, 2014, 04:40:01 pm
Is there a cheap RIP than can do this for the Epson 9890; I have no need of any aditional color management or layout tools, I just need to print 153 inches. (Win 7)

Brian A
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: aduke on February 14, 2014, 05:01:54 pm
Take a look at QImage. It is not a RIP, but uses the Epson printer driver. It can, however, produce prints longer than the driver allows.

I've not used it in several years because I could get good results from LR easier and faster than with QImage.

Alan
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: BrianWJH on February 14, 2014, 05:10:12 pm
Hi Brian, what about QImage currently $69.99.

Brian.
Title: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: fike on February 14, 2014, 07:07:07 pm
Qimags is excellent once you learn how to use it and it has allowed me to print very long images on person printers that had length limits.
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Ken Doo on February 14, 2014, 07:10:21 pm
Another vote for Qimage Ultimate.

Great printer utility.  Besides large prints, Qimage also remembers all the printer settings for your different ICC profiles, tiles prints, a canvas shrinkage setting, and more.

ken
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: hugowolf on February 14, 2014, 07:51:43 pm
Before Lightroom, I used QImage, but it isn't a RIP and I don't remember it getting around the 2^(16-1) pixel length limitation of the Epson drivers. Does it use some sorting of tiling to do this?

Brian A
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Farmer on February 14, 2014, 09:28:05 pm
Yes, tiling.

Hmmm, not often I see someone write 32768 in notation that takes 3 extra key strokes ;-)
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: hugowolf on February 14, 2014, 09:55:58 pm
Yes, tiling.

Hmmm, not often I see someone write 32768 in notation that takes 3 extra key strokes ;-)

Double math/art major, then computer CS grad.

Brian A
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: hugowolf on February 14, 2014, 09:58:14 pm
So, is the QImage process somewhat automatic, or do I have to set up the tiling?

Brian A
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Farmer on February 14, 2014, 10:12:21 pm
Basically automatic - pretty sure you can download a demo to check it out.
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on February 15, 2014, 04:33:05 am
Qimage's manual content Learn by Example 6a tells you what has to be done. The printer driver has to have a banner mode to make it possible. So the 3800 and 3880 will not be compatible and any printer model with roll loading and banner mode is.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Andres Toodo on February 15, 2014, 03:39:14 pm
I can recommend Dinax Mirage. Excellent tool for the price. Dowload 14 day trial.
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Farmer on February 15, 2014, 04:40:41 pm
I can recommend Dinax Mirage. Excellent tool for the price. Dowload 14 day trial.

Another good option - very polished piece of software.
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: hugowolf on February 15, 2014, 08:50:03 pm
Another good option - very polished piece of software.

It looks very nice, but I am not seeing anything that QImage doesn't offer, except it has a UI, and QImage really doesn't. And $650.

Some Epson printers in European market are bundled with Mirage, and I would have gone with that if I was still living in Europe.

Brian A
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Farmer on February 15, 2014, 08:59:29 pm
The price is a huge difference, definitely.  The UI and the functionality, ease of use and so on are excellent but "least expensive" it's not.

It's also available for Mac, which may be interesting for some users.

It's quick, let's you create your own profiles (assuming you have the hardware), direct printing of various formats and so on.  But, yeah, it's not cheap :-)
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 15, 2014, 09:10:12 pm
Hi,

Another vote for Qimage. Not only cheaper, but it also runs under Parallels or similar on Mac. And it's very powerful, has innovative resampling algorithms that will get the most out of the printer driver, and offers a no hassle, smart, halo free output sharpening (amongst many others, such as tone targeted sharpening, but also great nesting).
Did I mention the deceptively low price, and low cost upgrade regime?

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: hugowolf on February 15, 2014, 10:57:33 pm
As things are going, I will probably end up buying QImage again. I just wish Mike Chaney would hire a UI designer and programmer for a few months to sort out the interface.

Brian A
Title: Re: Least expensive way around Epson length limit
Post by: signinchina on February 18, 2014, 12:27:58 am
I vote for Qimage Ultimate,I used it before.