ImagePrint RIP Software
From the British Journal of Photography website:
ImagePrint v8.0 is a RIP designed for Epson models with some very handy features for wedding and events photographers, says Kevin Carter
Offering features such as borders, frames, layout packages and free access to a raft of first-rate profiles, ImagePrint is a RIP intended solely for photographers. As with rival software programs, it replaces the manufacturer's driver for complete control over the printer, either locally or over a network, so when purchasing a licence you specify a particular model. However there's a twist - the price is based on the format. For example, the license for the popular 17-inch Epson SP3800/3880 is priced at $895 (£570), while the roll-fed SP4880 is $1495 (£953). Support is mainly limited to Epson professional printers, although some pro-orientated HP and Canon models have been added recently and I'd expect to see more in future.
As an ICC colour managed application with support for both RGB and CMYK, ImagePrint can use the vast majority of ICC colour profiles, including your own custom-made profiles. But one of the big attractions of the program is access to ImagePrint's library of profiles, which includes some 27,000 profiles for over 400 papers. A number of profiles are shipped on the disc for your specified printer, but a download manager application is included to gain access to the library. Selecting and downloading the appropriate profile takes no more than a few minutes.
ImagePrint offers a range of greyscale and soft-proofing profiles for Photoshop, plus colour profiles for five lighting temperatures (daylight, tungsten, cool white fluorescent (CWF), CWF portrait and mixed lighting), across a range of Fine Art papers from Hahnemuehle, Canson, MOAB, Ilford, Epson and many others. If a particular profile isn't available Colorbytesoftware will build it for free (although wisely, it doesn't say how many times).
User's guide
I was expecting the user interface to be complicated but it has a very minimalist look and is reasonably intuitive. Colorbytesoftware's approach is to keep it as simple as possible. But relative simplicity masks enormous flexibility and if you are to use the program to its fullest extent, you will need to refer to the manual or watch online videos. There are number of floating windows, and not all of them open by default.
Images are selected from the browser and, providing you've selected the appropriate paper size from the main toolbar, you can add what you like by print size from the Layout window. You can add the same image as many times as you like, or add a mix - ImagePrint will do the rest. You can also position the image on the paper yourself, cramming on as many different sizes as you can. If one doesn't fit, ImagePrint will automatically add another page. If you're printing from cut-sheets, for instance using the SP3800, you can align mixed size photos with precision for the Rotatrim, saving paper waste and time. For a wedding or event photographer this is a hugely compelling feature and a real game changer.
Another attractive and unique feature is ImagePrint's ability to produce split tone prints with the greyscale profiles. I was able to add a split tone defining both the shadow and highlight tints and the point of separation, or blend, with ease. Two colour/tint pickers allow for easy selection, although I found it's easier to click on a point than drag the picker. A slider is used for the blend and the preview is updated in a real-time, making accurate selections possible. If I have a niggle it's that the image is low-resolution, and somewhat slightly disconcerting in use. But for wedding and fine art photographers the greyscale profiles and split-toning feature will have enormous potential.
Other features include adding borders and text, although this requires some skill and a concerted reading of the instruction manual. None of it seems really difficult, but don't expect to be able to knock something up on the fly. And if you do go wrong, you can always take a step back - none of the adjustments are destructive though. A border browser has some templates but with my installation, selecting this window caused ImagePrint to crash.
Crop marks are pretty simple to add and can be used for canvas wraps. Canvas users will also be interested in the ability to adjust the number of print-head passes - the default setting is four, but for media with pitted or highly absorbent surfaces it can be doubled to eight. Both choices have a high-speed option, like the original Epson driver, but unless otherwise required the 4-pass setting is sufficient for most needs. Like the choice of droplet size, either 1440 or 2880dpi, the number of print-head passes is made from the print dialog, so it can't be altered until you literally pass over to the IP driver. Still, without the frustrating resetting often seen in rival printer drivers, IP remembers the last setting making mistakes less likely.
Conclusions
Best of all was the quality of output. I have to say that that I've tried several high-end printer calibration solutions and although it is possible to calibrate for specific lighting, it's time-consuming and expensive. I also have to admit that I find Epson profiles pretty good all-round but there is room for improvement, as ImagePrint abundantly and consistently demonstrates.
One the downsides is that, to prevent misuse, a dongle is shipped with the software. As the discs are mailed from the USA, there's a possibility of VAT and import duties. But considering the support for custom-profiles and the ease of use overall, there's little here not to like.
CONTACTS
Price, based on printer size:
13-inch $695
17-inch $895
24-inch $1495
44-inch $2495
60-inch $2995
Discounts are available for multiple licenses and flexible licensing on exchange for larger or smaller printers.
NEEDS
Intel Mac running OS X 10.4 or later.
Windows Vista, XP, 2000
colorbytesoftware.com.