Fiery RIP
Fiery RIP
- Subject: Fiery RIP
- From: Nick Wheeler <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 10:58:51 -0400
James:
Don't bother with the Fiery. It was designed primarily for prepress people
as a proofing tool. It spoke "prepress" speak and really was designed for
people with no colorsync expertise. The Fiery I use (with the Epson 5000)
has something called Colorwise Pro-Tools which allowed prepress folks to
tweak color in a language they could understand. It also does provide in -
RIP color management. There has been a lot of discussion about that on this
list. It also provides for calibration. I have yet to speak with anyone who
actually has used the calibration capabilities of the Fiery, knows how it
works or even knows how to sell it to me.
Epson calibration would be a nice feature - anyone out there listening?
The Fiery's other functionality - as a print spooler - can probably be
handled by dedicating an iMac with USB printer sharing turned on and using
the spooling capabilities there. I have not tried that myself but it is
certainly worth a shot before spending the money on a Fiery. When I bought
my Epson, USB printer sharing was not available, come to think of it USB did
not exist then.
All the Fiery's proofing functionality are better handled via colorsync and
proper profile management in Photoshop. In other words print to whatever
Epson set up via profile matching to whatever your actual output will be.
There are many regular contributors to the Colorsync list who can help you
there.
Remember that no 6 color Epson can be printed to as a "true" CMYK device.
You have no control over the final black generation curve and very little
control over ink limits other than generic "media" choices. Whatever data
you send to the Epson (or Fiery) driver always ends up in a black box
"connection" color space before going to the print heads.
Also obviously no screen proofing as no halftones.
It is futile to resist - your colors will be assimilated by the almighty
Epson Black Box. Best to meekly submit and profile the things as RGB devices
and be done with it. EFI just engages in a bunch of mumbo jumbo to try to
disguise this fact.
Best wishes,
Nick Wheeler