<At an ASMP meeting tonight, I was
told that ImagePrint "uses the Epson driver engine internally and is an
RGB RIP that is incapable of independently controlling the ink channels"
of an Epson 9600. Fact or fiction? I was also told that there is no
linearization or GCR possible with ImagePrint. Seems to be true from what
I can find on the web site. There were comments to the effect that the
image layout features were very good, but that the image quality was less than
that of several Windows-only RIPs (e.g. ErgoSoft's StudioPrint) because ImagePrint
is "limited by the internal use of the Epson driver code, which limits the
ink and therefore the gamut" of the 9600>
This is nonsense. First, you can profile
ImagePrint via CMYK if you like, so you can control how the profiles are built.
There is no linearization feature, its is already done at a level much higher
and more complicated than the number of steps you get with applications like Studioprint.
At least in Studioprint version 10, you could only run 40 patches per
channel. The one downside of Imageprint is that running an aftermarket inkset
can be problematic, and you really don’t have a way around it like you
would with Onyx or Studioprint. The ink limiting in ImagePrint is designed to
obtain maximum gamut but also to prevent slamming the paper with too much ink
for no good reason. From this default state you can dial back any of the
channels but cannot increase limits any further.
There is no reliance on Epson code, only
to communicate with the printer on the Windows side (aka Imageprint follows the
same port that your normal Epson driver would use). You don’t even need
to load the Epson driver on the Mac. Its funny you should mention this because
most RIP vendors use the built-in microweave, or public domain screening
patterns, but Colorbyte writes their own set over 8000 layers deep for each
printer model. To say the image quality is less than other Windows RIPs is
absurd, the ImagePrint client list says it all. You should demo the software,
and print some B+W while you are at it.
Cris Daniels