ImagePrint, Epson 9900, BC Lyve Canvas

[Alan Davis]

Anyone out there using this combination?

ImagePrint, Epson 9900, BC Lyve Canvas.

I would really appreciate some information.

Thanks,
Alan

I would like to pay someone to make a print for me using the above combination!

[dgberg]

Alan,
I looked very closely at Imageprint when it finally came out for my models. I liked everything about it except for its price point,a killer in my opinion.
My print studio is a small volumn operation. So the return on investment is not there. I would love to have it for my workshop students to work with and compare.
If it were $500 I would have snapped it up in a minute,maybe even a $1000. But where it is at just kills it. I know quite a few 7900 and 9900 owners that have looked at it and none have purchased it.
Another reason why you probably have received no responses to date.
Lyve and the 9900 is another story. Excellent profiles from Breathing Color with a printed output that is pretty darn good. That being said I would love to have the technology of the Colorbyte/Imageprint package.

My suggestion to Colorbyte would be to have ala cart packages of a dozen profiles to choose from. For less then $500.00 you could buy as many of these 12 packs as you have need for.  I have settled on just about a dozen different medias in our studio, so a dozen for $480.00 would work for me. You may have 2 dozen or $960.00.
For that price I am in!

[Alan Davis]

Dan,

First of thanks for your response. I was beginning to think I would get none.

Your thoughts are exactly the reason I have not already purchased IP for my 9900.

I agree with you that ColorByte should re-think their pricing if they expect to sell IP for the current batch of printers.

I have ImagePrint 8 for my 4880 and use it in more of a production situation for my portrait studio. I can justify it's price for this. It does certainly make for a more efficient workflow for printing 16x20s and smaller.

I do print a lot of canvas portraits 20x24 and larger and currently I am using the ColorMunki to make profiles for the 9900, Lyve combination.

I was just thinking how I might speed up the process of producing these canvases. It seems the process of having to soft proof and make adjustments to the image just slows down production. Not a great deal but just enough to make me think more about ImagePrint for the 9900.

With my Epson 4880 and ImagePrint I print portraits on LexJet's eSatin photo paper and I never have to softproof to get great result that match my ColorMunki calibrated and profiled LeCie LCD.

Do you think this is because photo paper (Lustre finish) paper by nature does not need the additional softproofed adjustments or are Colorbyte profiles for ImagePrint really that good?


Thanks.
Alan Davis







 

[dgberg]

Alan,
I have been using BC's lyve Epson 7900 profile on the 9900.  The output is excellent for the 9900 and have seen no need to even fool with another profile. Have you tried this?
I print almost entirely canvas and rarely have to softproof or color correct anything before printing. Might mean an ocassional reprint but thats it. Lightroom to print and done. As a disclaimer much of our printing is for the family shooter or enthusiest and are photos we are enlarging,printing and gallery wrapping.
To address your last question I have never had any real issues with any oem media/profile that would require softproofing especially not canvas.
Ps. Breathing Color has a profile up now for the 9900.

[ghaynes754]

Alan

I use Hahnemuhle Monet canvas, so not an exact match to your situation.  I run a 9900.  When I got the 9900 I used my ColorMunki to make profiles.  Didn't even know about Imageprint.  Prints were very good.  But when I printed the same image with the Imageprint Demo I was blown away with the additional detail that came up on the prints.  Best example was a 32 Pontiac that has a Colorado license plate on it.  The plate has the Colorado mountain range on it.  There was additional detail and color on the Imageprint version vs my Colormunki version.  Very noticeable.

So then the question became did I want to get a better profiling system and take a bunch of time or let someone else do it?  When you add up the cost of getting a good X-rite system with software you are pretty close to buying IP8.  And then add in the additional time of each time you want to do a new paper you spend time doing the profiles I decided I would rather shoot, print and sell rather than spend time making profiles.

And the consistency is solid.  The support is solid.  Being able to do the nested images is priceless to save paper/canvas.

Gary Haynes
www.reflectionsimaging.com

[Alan Davis]

Gary,

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences.
 If I may ask a few questions.

Do you Photoshop softproof before sending your files to ImagePrint when printing to the Monet canvas?

BTW, how do you like the Monet. I ordered a sample of it but haven't gotten around to trying it. If I remember correctly it is 100% cotton. I have been told by a dealer that 100% cotton canvases have a tendency to loosen after stretching. He told me the cotton synthetic blends are less apt to become loose.

Have you experienced this loosening of the Monet? I've always been a fan of Hahnemuhle products but have not tried any of their canvases.

Thanks,
Alan Davis

[ghaynes754]

Alan

Later reply.  Haven't had any thing start to loosen up on me.  I use a GalleryStretch machine to do my stretching and get them nice and tight on all sides.  Don't know how I would get that level of tautness using a manual pair of pliers.

Gary

[ghaynes754]

Also forgot to answer the other part of your question.  Yes I soft proof in CS5 using the Imageprint profile.  Does make a difference.