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Author Topic: ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP  (Read 8573 times)

rdonson

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« on: August 08, 2006, 08:31:08 pm »

I'm contemplating purchasing an Epson 9800 to handle mostly large portraits on canvas and matte paper.  I'd like to factor in the cost of a RIP and I'm wondering what recommendations forum followers would have.  I've seen and read a lot about the Colorbyte ImagePrint RIP and not much about the Colorburst RIP that Epson offers in their pro edition.

Thoughts?  Comments?  Any recommendations on who to buy a 9800 from?
« Last Edit: August 08, 2006, 08:33:04 pm by rdonson »
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Ron

dlashier

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2006, 09:39:23 pm »

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rdonson

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« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2006, 08:05:09 am »

Doh!      Thanks for the pointer, Don.

I think the discussion and my intended use will probably lead to the ImagePrint RIP.  I like the Phatte Black and the profiles they provide.

On the last question, any recommendations on where to purchase the printer from?  B&H?
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Ron

Ed Foster, Jr.

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2006, 08:59:01 am »

Quote
Doh!      Thanks for the pointer, Don.

I think the discussion and my intended use will probably lead to the ImagePrint RIP.  I like the Phatte Black and the profiles they provide.

On the last question, any recommendations on where to purchase the printer from?  B&H?
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I was so delighted with my purchase from DTG (Digital Technology Group) - good price, free shipping and great to work with.  Take a look at [a href=\"http://www.dtgweb.com]DTG[/url]  - My rep was Kristin who is very helpful (800) 681-0024.

The 7800's and 9800's are real winners you should be very happy with it.

Good Luck
Ed
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Ed Foster, Jr.
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rdonson

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2006, 09:08:50 pm »

[Thanks for the recommendation, Ed.
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Ron

pfigen

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2006, 01:28:01 pm »

I've got two friends using the Phatte Black system, and while they like the concept, they're not thrilled with Colorbyte's canned profiles for color images. In every case so far, the custom profiles I've made for them have been superior to Colorbyte's own. Of course, you have to use their proprietary grayscale profiles, which appear to be fine.
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rdonson

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2006, 05:29:30 pm »

Thanks for the heads up.  I really appreciate it.

Are the problems with the color profiles for specific papers or does it seem to be across the board?

Do you know if Colorbyte is aware and working to update their profiles?
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Ron

RicAgu

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2006, 04:31:44 pm »

Hello,

Thought I would chime in.

The best service and support I have received is from Lexjet in Florida and they are very competetive with excellent customer service.  I have bought a 5000, 5500, 4000, 7600 and two 4800's from them and they have been great.  You can ask fro Aarona nd let him know Richard sent you.  http://wwww.lexjet.com

I would be careful with IP as their customer service SUCKS beyond belief.  Although Lexjet will give you support on the product as long as you need it.  I am assuming you will not be running 20 different types of paper in the 9800.  So maybe nailing down your three or four paper choices and having digital dog or someone create custom profiles for you would be a less expensive route to go.  The cost of IP for the 9800 is not cheap and if I am spending that amount of money I better have support.

Best of luck with the beast.

Richard
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dlashier

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2006, 05:13:17 pm »

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Are the problems with the color profiles for specific papers or does it seem to be across the board?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=73005\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Colorbyte's profiles aren't bad (better than Epson's for instance), but not as good as custom profiles. I would guess that they don't push the gamut limits in order to avoid problems with printer/inkset/paper variability.

- DL
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Jim Kooi

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2006, 12:20:01 pm »

Quote
I've got two friends using the Phatte Black system, and while they like the concept, they're not thrilled with Colorbyte's canned profiles for color images. In every case so far, the custom profiles I've made for them have been superior to Colorbyte's own. Of course, you have to use their proprietary grayscale profiles, which appear to be fine.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=72976\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'll second this.  I've really struggled trying to get good results with the phatte color profiles and have basically given up on them for now.  PS soft-proof doesn't quite match the IP soft-proof, and in turn the IP soft-proof doesn't quite match prints.  Typically prints come out too dark and contrasty, and the color is a bit off, too (on six different papers). OTOH, am now getting good results with custom profiles.  Since there are a lot of good profiling services out there now with reasonable prices, I'd say go for IP if you need to print on both glossy and matte papers.  

As far as customer service goes, perhaps Colorbyte is really trying to improve, since in the month I've had IP I've found their tech support people great to deal with.  I've always gotten a courteous, informative response to my emails within a couple hours.  Would be nice if they had expanded hours, though.
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rdonson

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« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2006, 09:15:27 pm »

Richard, thanks for the tip on Lexjet.  I'll check them out.

You're right, of course, on the paper.  I think I'll end up with only 3-4 papers to deal with and custom profiles wouldn't be that burdensome
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Ron

rdonson

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ImagePrint vs. Colorburst RIP
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2006, 09:17:15 pm »

Thanks, Jim.  Custom profiles may be worth it.  I'll see what kind of results I get with IP out of the box and I won't be afraid of custom profiles if I'm not thrilled with what I see.
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Ron

pfigen

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« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2006, 07:11:18 pm »

I can tell what my buddies have told me but I haven't seen the results yet, as they are both in Monterey and I'm here in L.A.

The areas where the most difference was observed between IP profile and the Gretag profile I made were in the neutrality of an R=G=B gray ramp, where the Gretag profiles were much closer to neutral throughout the tonal range. Another area was that certain bright saturated yellows had a tendency to go green with the IP profiles. Now this phenomenon is something I have certainly seen with many Gretag profiles (check the bright yellow in the highlight of CD on the Photodisc test image), it is really dependent on the paper and the model of printer. To elaborate a little, the green shift appears to have almost disappeared on the 9800 printing through the Epson driver, probably due to much better baseline linearizations. It's still a fairly big problem profiling CMYK contract proofing systems and can be edited out quite easily, but the fact that it occurs in IP profiles means that Colorbyte either doesn't know to look for that defect or that they haven't figured out how to fix it. The other word my friends used to describe the Gretag prints was "cleaner".
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