I've read about Imageprint. I'm strictly and amateur and not a candidate for Black as I use only a few papers and cannot justify the cost.
I'm curious about folks that use RED in a non-production environment. Are there realistic improvements over the standard Epson driver? I'm planning to download the demo and play with it a bit but respect the folks on this forum for honest advice.
I considered ImagePrint RED a few months ago, so I am going to share my own impressions, provided that they are just based on my limited experience during the trial period.
To cut to the chase, personally I feel that Black is the version where IP really shines. In addition to it being a true RIP with its own printer driver, just the fact that it gives users access to a broad portfolio of custom ICC profiles is an outstanding resource. However, to your point, it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.
As to RED, my first observation is that the security feature that IP relies on during the trial period is extremely invasive as they let you try the software but you get a repetitive pattern of watermarks all over any image that you print. This really gets in the way of properly assessing the end result. Having said that, RED appeared to be a capable printing software with many options for customizing the print layout. The GUI takes time to get used to - there definitely is a learning curve there. The output looked very good (as far as I could tell given the multitude of watermarks) - I had the impression that IP RED prints were just a touch brighter than those printed through say EPL, Qimage One or Mirage.
Having said all that, I eventually went for Mirage as in my view it comes with a clearer GUI and workflow, it has similar features to IP RED’s and it produces really good prints with excellent colors at a fraction of IP RED’s price. Mirage also comes with a standard trial period during which the software is fully functional, which makes it much easier for the user to properly test it. And finally Mirage’s customer support has been excellent, very responsive and very helpful.
Hope some of this is of help to you.
