ImagePrint 5
ImagePrint 5
- Subject: ImagePrint 5
- From: "Cris Daniels" <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 10:22:54 -0300
>
Yes but can't you get good results just using the Epson rgb driver?
Uh... How many times do I have to read on this list people trashing the Epson
driver, how difficult it is to profile, tonal breaks in shadows. If this RIP
addresses these issues than that is whole point here, "good results" are not
good enough in many cases. The Epson driver will always be a series of
compromises, a printer like the 1270 is made to print pictures well, and
because most people are not color managed the printer has nice little modes
like PhotoEnhance4 that apply Epson's special sauce to the images to make them
print acceptably so that people don't return the printer. None of the Epsons
(out of the box) are intended towards hardcore users, thats why programs like
ImagePrint were written. This becomes a two edged sword though, now the
printer reveals more detail in each file meaning that the file only prints as
well as its captured or handled in Photoshop, and now you really get to print
all of the additional detail that Imacon or Creo can dig out, but if you have
a Sam's Club Megascan 5000 flatbed (2.0dmax on negs) for $42.00, you are dead
and the Epson driver may be the better choice so that it can bury all of the
noise by dumping black everywhere.
There are two ways to evaluate a product in this industry, by what it actually
does, and by what is says it will do. I am from the camp that the proof is in
the pudding, how many technologies or applications have come out that simply
do not live up to their hype ?... way too many in this industry. Whether it is
broken color management, bugs, compatibility issues, operating system support,
it is pretty rare to find products that do it all right (with quality) at a
great price. If nothing else, at least this program does whats advertised and
at a very fair price.
How can ImagePrint work acceptably with RGB profiles? All I can say is that
the results speak for themselves. I cannot find a single profiler that hits
the gamut of Colorbyte's profiler and ImagePrint combo. Obviously their
profiler is quite good, the results are at least as good as what I've achieved
with Monaco Profiler, PMP 4.1, HPO, Praxisoft, or Colorvision. I can profile
my printers and achieve a degree of color accuracy and print quality that
would take much longer using CMYK profiles, and I can bet the farm that I
won't see any dot in my highlights. Of course I could generate a zillion CMYK
profiles, see which looks best (TAC, black generation, etc..) and still find
that I get better results profiling like Colorbyte recommends. I won't try to
complicate my life any more than other vendors already do, if they say this is
how it works best, I'm all ears.
Are the prints better than anything else I've tried? yes, and in every way.
Does their RIP and profiler approach the table just like the other guys do?
no, and why should it matter if these are the results. As I mentioned
previously why is it presumed that how its been done in the past is the best
way to handle things? I meet people all the time that are cluess about CMYK,
they should be in an RGB workflow anyway.
I don't have any knowledge about how their profiler works ( in a theory)
except that they've spent quite a bit of time on it and it works with spectral
data. It is beyond me why every profiler isn't doing this already. The
Colorbyte perceptual tables are fabulous. The profiles generated are ICC
compliant, they are not built for a proprietary workflow so to speak.
The B+W side of ImagePrint is genius, my biggest problem is restraining myself
from tining every B+W image I have in 10 different shades. From my past
experience with B+W printing, you cannot rely on an ICC profile alone to
handle grey balancing to this extent, I'm not sure how you'd even come close
to these results with any other software.
Cris Daniels
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