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ASMP Members List their Favorite RIPs

Our query to ASMP members to send us information about their favorite RIPs resulted in many responses of “What is a RIP?” We hope that Andrew Rodney’s informative article in the print edition of the Fall ‘05 Bulletin will have shed light on this important subject. For those members who want to know more, we’ve compiled this list of fellow ASMP members favorite RIPs below:

From: Ken Tanaka - kentanaka1@mac.com

Per your request for member information, here is what I use.

• Product: ImagePrint version 6
• Price: $495 for the "lite" version designed for the Epson 2200 printer
• Company: ColorByte Software
• Link: http://colorbytesoftware.com/imageprint.htm
• Platform: Mac OS 10.4, Epson 2200 printer

Comments:

After spending months to fine-tune my color management workflow I was still unable to get consistent print color fidelity results until I finally found ImagePrint. From the first page printed, ImagePrint has produced outstanding results on my Epson 2200.

One of the keys to ImagePrint's performance is the large library of ink/paper ICC profiles that ColorByte has developed for the product. This ever-growing library is available free of additional charge to ImagePrint users.

I should add that the capabilities of the 'lite' version are somewhat crippled as compared to the full version for larger printers. This can be quite maddening at times, since you may not know that thee feature you just used is not available until you see "Demo" watermarked all over your print.

If there were a weak aspect of ImagePrint, it would be its general user interface. Once mastered it becomes second nature. But mastery takes a while and love is not in the cards. Hopefully, future versions will feature an interface that's been re-designed by someone other than a programmer.

The future need for expensive RIP software is somewhat cloudy, particularly on the Mac platform. Early reports from users of the new Epson printers using Ultrachrome K3 inks suggest that the standard Epson driver performs as well as ImagePrint. I guess time will tell.

From: Tony Arrasmith - http://www.tonyarrasmith.com

The RIP I use, ImagePrint, is amazing. I work with very colorful imagery that can push the limits of the color gamut. ImagePrint handles my files beautifully and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand it. The CMYK conversions are equally as strong.

From: Steve Niedorf - http://www.niedorf-photo.com

I've been using ImagePrint V6 from ColorByte Software for a few years now. First on an Epson 2200 and now on an Epson 4000.

I think it is great. For me, the many profiles they include with the system have worked well and cover the printing papers I use often. The CMYK proofer function seems to work much better in this new version. To make an RGB-CMYK reference print is easy and accurate; the profile for the Epson Semi-Matte proof paper I use is provided in the package.

The B&W function is excellent. The basic BW profile use is neutral and options for toning are available. My inkjet prints on PhotoRag look better than any silver print I've made.

The WYSIWYG function is the big selling point. Once you get past a slightly intimidating interface, it is easy to use and configure. Custom paper sizes are easy to set up, and roll paper is handled well.

The spooler program "remembers" the details of each print job. If you have a file you print often, you can just click once on the job file and all the details of the job get "replayed" and the print gets made.

A single copy of ImagePrint can be used on all the machines that are on the same network; they just have to a fixed IP address. One machine is listed as a host, the rest are clients. The host has a software dongle to prevent bootleg usage.

When I purchased my copy, support, although helpful and through, was available only via email unless you got a maintenance contract, I don't know what the current situation is. That makes things difficult if you have a problem that needs quick attention.

http://www.colorbytesoftware.com/

From: Tony Wood - http://www.anthonywoodphotography.com

I use ImagePrint, which I assume many people do, so you have a lot of information about it already. I love the quality, but I wanted to emphasize the exceptionally bad customer service they offer.

From: David Diberio - e-mail: ddiberio@comcast.net

I have been using ImagePrint 6 from ColorByte Software. There is a fee for every 90 days you request assistance, at $150.00, or $500.00 for one-year use. Since I am commented and have paid over the last year $650.00 to keep it working and will have to pay another $150.00 because I am having problems. They are not too helpful when you do e-mail or phone them. Therefore, I strongly do not recommend them for ASMP members. If you have any questions, please e-mail or phone me; I will be glad to answer any question.

From: Mark Savoia - http://www.ctphoto.com

I first started out using ImagePrint (http://www.colorbytesoftware.com/) to print to two Epson 9000s loaded with quad inks, one machine with selenium inkset and the other with carbon sepia inkset. It worked great. ImagePrint was a little confusing to set up, but seldom had any printing issues. It would process the file completely first before starting to print, so it was a bit of a slow process. It used profiles provided by ColorByte for the correct paper ink combination. This system ran on Windows 2000 and the printers were networked. The cost for ImagePrint was around $1800 a few years ago.

I am currently using StudioPrint (http://www.ergosoftus.com/). I also have taken the two Epson 9000s and replaced them with one Epson 9600 using the same two inksets in a 7-ink configuration. StudioPrint is a bit easier to set up and use, more logical. It also allows immediate starting of printing, and my printing time has nearly halved compared to ImagePrint. The screening used is also much better, and the software allows for making my own "profiles" for any number of paper-ink combinations (including split-tone) using my X-Rite DTP 41 spectrometer. Even though it will also allow me to use it to print to my other Epson 9600 and Epson 10000 for color work, I have chosen to continue using Epson's software drivers only to conform to past editions printed. This system ran on Windows 2000 and the printers were networked. The cost of StudioPrint for large format printers is around $2300.

From: Kevin Ames - http://www.amesphoto.com

I use a RIP from ErgoSoft called PosterPrint. It runs on Windows 2K or XP. The link is www.ergosoftus.com. I believe the price is about $1500, and there is a subscription solution from Yellowhouse: http://www.yellowhouseonline.com

I love this RIP. It is PC only, so expensive Mac hardware hands off the printing to an inexpensive PC. The RIP supports the X-Rite Pulse system for color profiling and has a print queue feature so the printer can spool jobs and print them unattended.

From: Michael Stewart - http://www.stewartimage.com

ColorBurst is so far ahead that there really is no competition. Epson is bundling Colorburst RIPs with printers, SWOP certified, etc. All the prices and info are on their site. If you need more info, talk to Josh, here's his info: http://www.colorburstrip.com/

From: Al Satterwhite - http://www.alsatterwhite.com

I've been using Lyson's Daylight Darkroom, which uses a RIP for B&W prints; it's the best output I've seen since Kodabromide (silver gelatin prints) when using Lyson's Darkroom Gloss paper. I've also had very good results using Epson & Hahnemuhle fine art papers (matte). Used on Mac OS-X with an Epson 2200 & Epson 4000. Lyson Daylight Darkroom - http://www.daylightdarkroom.com

From: Richard Khanlian - rckhan@msn.com

For black & white printing on my Epson 2200 with Epson Ultrachrome inks, I use Roy Harrington's QuadTone RIP. Information and the downloadable RIP ($50 shareware fee) are at the following URL: http://harrington.com/QuadToneRIP.html

QuadTone RIP, as the name suggests, is intended only for b&w printing. In my experience, it gives b&w results that are far superior to the Epson driver, giving tonalities that can be adjusted from cool to sepia and that show little to no metamerism when viewed under different light sources. QuadTone RIP is available in Mac and PC versions (I use PC) and works with a variety of Epson printers, from desktop models through the 9600. It comes with canned profiles for a number of ink and paper combinations, and with tools for creating additional profiles. For a relatively low price, it has opened up the world of black & white inkjet printing for me. I heartily recommend it.

From: Edwin Remsberg - http://www.remsberg.com

I am using the shareware QuadTone RIP on a Mac with an Epson 7600 printer and for the low volume of work I do I have found the settings that give me what I need for printing black and white. If costs were no object or prints were a larger part of my business I would choose ImagePrint. I have played with Colorburst and like the prints quite a bit, though the interface is not as slick.

From: Karl Herber Photographs - http://www.karlherber.com

I use QuadTone RIP for printing BW images with my 2200. It works quite well considering its low cost — $50. I use it with Mac OS X. Here’s a link to their Web site: http://harrington.com/QuadToneRIP.html

It took a little work to get it going, but it does a nice job, comes with many paper profiles and has a lot of flexibility in terms of the blending options using several tone curves. Mr. Harrington was very helpful with any support questions via e-mail.

From: Bill Phipps, Head Technician, Fine Arts Printmaking Department, Parsons The New School of Design

We just opened the Fine Arts Printmaking studio at Parsons The New School of Design (our new name for Parsons School of Design/The New School). We run a lot of four-color for students in Communications Design, Illustration and Photography.

We image with OSX 10.4 Tiger and up-to-date Adobe CS Photoshop and Illustrator. We bring these images into QuarkXPress and print through our PC RIP to an Agfa 1000 imagesetter. I have only good things to say about RTI in Florida for being absolutely top shelf and helpful technically during the problems we have experienced from changes in operating systems etc. Our RTI Harlequin RIP has been very dependable, and I would recommend it to anyone.

http://www.rti-rips.com/Imagesetter%20RIP-Kits.html

From: Chris Crumley - http://www.chriscrumley.com

For your RIP discussion, I offer this:

A RIP can be beneficial. I drive my Epson 7600 with a ColorByte ImagePrint RIP via Ethernet (Mac OSX Tiger 10.4.2, G5 Dual). This RIP allows me to drop Adobe InDesign EPS output into the RIP and produce printed layouts, print image files from Photoshop, print multiple iterations of a file and a host of other positive print things in a digital workflow.

ImagePrint (IP) comes with profiles for a large number of paper types including those from Epson, LexJet and Hahnemuhle and others. The RIP allows stacking jobs so a printer with roll paper can run along somewhat unattended virtually all day.

Having said, "RIPs are good things," my experience with ColorByte ImagePrint has been both productive and fraught with disappointment and frustration.

The product is expensive: In February 2003, I paid something on the order of $2,000 for a Raster and Postscript version of IP to drive Epson 7600 and 2200 printers; 7600 by Ethernet and 2200 by USB.

In all the time I had the license for the 2200, I could never get a single usable print from it. Not one.

I spent another $1,200 for installation and training; part of which was for development of profiles for the various papers I used at the time. Without the profile development component, you might be able to install and train yourself. The latest version I have (v6) comes with many paper profiles included and there are more available for download from the ColorByte site.

After purchase and the warranty period, you're expected to buy a maintenance package at $495 per printer and renew it each year if you want support. Where photographers are used to buying a software upgrade when a package has enough enhancements for a new release (i.e. PS6, 7, CS, CS2, etc), ColorByte expects your IP money every year, regardless of what they've done to the product. Plus, $495 per year/per printer is excessive; that is 25% of the purchase price per year. If you have two printers that are very much alike, one for photo black and one for matte black, or two different sizes of printer, you have nearly $1,000 a year in IP upgrades. Absurd.

If a user gets more than two IP updates behind and want to upgrade, they must re-purchase the software at full price and start over. This would seem to be a bean-counter policy for encouraging routine purchase of the maintenance plans. Typical ColorByte.

On the ColorByte site, I see a Maintenance Lite program with quarterly payments of $150. That's $600 a year for one printer.

IP only operates with an installed dongle, a small serial number-encoded device that plugs into a USB port. Imagine every software product you have requiring its own dongle and the resulting kludge.

In addition to the dongle, there are Encryption Numbers for each printer; seemingly over-killing anti-theft protection with attendant complexity. I can't count the number of jobs that have been running on a tight deadline after working hours and the Encryption Numbers just disappear or the dongle can't be read by the IP software. The only way around it was a complete re-install of the software requiring hours (sometimes days) and project delays. I eventually made a hard disk copy of the software install CD so I could do re-installs faster.

When the dongle couldn't be read by the software intermittently, I asked for it to be replaced. ColorByte's Accounting Department mandated policy is to have the old one in hand before shipping a replacement. That means a photographer's printing is shut down completely for days while the courier and handling operations take place. Imagine this failure while you have a time-critical job in progress. A simple pro-customer exchange routine could save much of the grief of a dongle failure.

My experience is that ColorByte's management responds with silence and arrogance.