Question: Who currently prints with a Epson PRO 9600 printer?

[Will Thompson]

I have several Real world questions about operation.

[Will Thompson]

Is not anyone using a 9600 or 7600???

[Jay Hoss]

I use to until it died. What are your questions?

[edwin blenkinsopp]

there are still quite a lot of 76/9600 epsons in production and we support them- send me a pm with any questions if you wish
Edwin

[Will Thompson]

I was just looking for information about the longest print with the latest SW and drivers on OSX not using a rip or tiling from someone who has personally printed that size.

[Jay Hoss]

Will,

When using a RIP I believe it was 24 feet. Without a RIP and using the Epson driver I believe it was limited to 84 or 96 inches. The limitation is for both mac and pc. I use to print Youth League Banners on mine and constantly ran into the max length limit.

[Asher Kelman]

Jay,

What do you know about the pros and cons of different RIPS as there is a great difference in price? I'm planning on getting a 9600 or better just that Will beat me to this one and I was going to pay more! He did fix the thing, trained himself on the job!

Asher

[Jay Hoss]

Asher,

I know very little about RIPS. I have chosen to drive these beasts directly from Photoshop. I saw very little advantage to using a RIP in my workflow and I very, very rarely need to print 20+ feet. I am currently abusing a Canon iPF8100 and love it compared to the Epson 9600. I really like the user replaceable heads for when the time comes, the 330 or 700ml Ink tanks, waist level paper loading, bar coding of paper types & lengths and speed when using high quality print modes.

Not to turn this into an ad but I do have some Epson consumables for the 7600/ 9600 Ultrachrome, as well as, the Ethernet card for the printer.

[edwin blenkinsopp]

there are 2 fundamental differences in rips

one is targetted at display graphics- onyx , photogate and proofmaster for example
theis first groups primary aim to provide tiling , banners, full gamut use
operation can be very interactive

and the second is targetted at proof print production, GMG and Efi for example
the second groups primary purpose is to produce an exact colour match to a printing standard on a maximum size of a printing plate with a certification strip and measurement system to maintain and very compliance.
operation is generally server based and automated


Edwin

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by edwin blenkinsopp

there are 2 fundamental differences in rips

one is targetted at display graphics- onyx , photogate and proofmaster for example
theis first groups primary aim to provide tiling , banners, full gamut use
operation can be very interactive

and the second is targetted at proof print production, GMG and Efi for example
the second groups primary purpose is to produce an exact colour match to a printing standard on a maximum size of a printing plate with a certification strip and measurement system to maintain and very compliance.
operation is generally server based and automated

So , Edwin,

The Epsons can be purchased without the RIP software. That's what Will has done with his 9600. But what's the loss for him as a photographer who is doing his own work or for some one else? Is it just that there will be some question when another set of prints are required 6 months down the road? Doesn't Epson, for example have their own certification strip?

Are the RIPS sold to art photographers where the printer is the primary output essentially for just allowing arranging of many various print sizes and different images to be fitted on the paper or resized using better algorithms. IOW, why go beyond what the printer software provides? Imageprint, I understand has there own curves for many papers.

Asher

[alberto cornejo]

I currently use a 7600 with an Ergosoft RIP, with K7 carbon inks, only to produce high standat B/W prints...For color I changed to a 9900 and a Chromira station both controlled by my Colorburst RIP...I only print 3d artwork on the Epson, but now I am using the Chromira more with Kodak Enduro Metallic papers, because of the quality, and less work on the Epson...tje older 7600 in B/W outperforms anything I´ve seen in any lab world wide..the ICC profiling with the ergosoft is simply awesome, it might not answer you question, it´s mainly a tool improvement for achieveng high standards

[edwin blenkinsopp]

Originally Posted by Asher Kelman

So , Edwin,

The Epsons can be purchased without the RIP software. That's what Will has done with his 9600. But what's the loss for him as a photographer who is doing his own work or for some one else? Is it just that there will be some question when another set of prints are required 6 months down the road? Doesn't Epson, for example have their own certification strip?

Are the RIPS sold to art photographers where the printer is the primary output essentially for just allowing arranging of many various print sizes and different images to be fitted on the paper or resized using better algorithms. IOW, why go beyond what the printer software provides? Imageprint, I understand has there own curves for many papers.

Asher

Hi Asher,
epson also make/sell rips if you print without a rip though I think you would have great difficulty matching the output on another platform/machine
It doesnt matter who makes the certification strip, its the common standard that the strip is verifying that needs to be acertained.
All the rip manufacturers have there standard set of profiles for there own brand and usually the main epson papers.
The usual area of interest is either producing a profile on a cheaper / better media than the standard ( getting the best picture posssible ) or matching something (like curtailing the gamut to match another printing process)
I have set up many photographers to iso27l and more recently iso39 press standards because that is what their clients work to and it ensures they dont get the job sent back from the reprohouse.
edwin