Wide
format ink jet printers, links, tips, helpful information for Encad,
Roland, Hewlett-Packard DesignJet, ColorSpan, Ilford, Raster Graphics,
Mutoh, Mimaki piezoelectric, Iris, Glicee fine art large format printers,
EFI Fiery RIP, Postscript RIP servers for wide format printers, ColorSpan,
AHT Advanced Hi-Tech Corp, Colorbus, Splash, software RIP, Yarc, Amiable,
Harlequin, Visual Edge Technology, 3M Cactus, laminating wide-format
prints Seal, GBC, USI, Ledco. Tests, reviews, and recommendations
for wide format printers by Nicholas Hellmuth.
complete
index of this entire web site starts below.
What
large format printer is best for your business? What wide carriage
printer might be a mistake? What if you have a client waiting for
the output from your wide format printer? What
should you do if you are stuck with a slow and pokey wide format
printer? How to speed up and increase productivity. What PostScript
RIP is best, and which
RIP should you avoid.
Should
I buy an Epson? an Encad? a Hewlett-Packard? Roland? or ColorSpan?
Our
tests require that a printer hold up 90 days without breaking down
and needing substantial technical help! Next step is to see whether
that same printer will hold up an entire year. Thus it is rather obvious
that we do not accept quickie 30-day tests. It's not always easy to
get a demo on loan for long enough to really find out how well it
holds up. Encad and HP, however, both knew their printers would hold
up forever so they provided them without flinching.
So
which printer should you buy, ColorSpan, Hewlett-Packard, Encad, Roland....or
the Epson? We inspected all these printers at the last dozen trade
shows in 2000, 2001, 2003 and now again in 2003.
If
you need help deciding what wide format color printer to buy, what
RIP to select, just send an e-mail to the senior review editor, contact Nicholas Hellmuth. Please be sure to mention what kind of images you
reproduce, what your market is, your level of experience such as whether
you are new to digital printing, and what printers did you consider
before reading the reviews on this site.
Although
this web site has hundreds of pages, we put all the new additional
material into the FLAAR Reports in PDF format because so many readers
say they prefer to get everything all edited and downloadable
in PDF .
CLICK ON ANY LETTER TO SEE THE LIST OF THEMES THAT START WITH THAT LETTER.
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CAD ,
large format printers for architectural drawings, engineering drawings,
GIS, aerial maps, photo
Canvas Canon imagePROGRAF iPF 500
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF 600
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF 700
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF 9000
Canon imagePROGRAF W8200
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF8000
Canon
BubbleJet wide format color printers
CD-R
burner , Smart and Friendly or any 8x is good choice Color copiers
combined with hardware PostScript RIP
Colorbus
PostScript RIP for wide format printers
(including proofing newspapers on newsprint) Color
Corporation of America , where you can
have your signs, posters, banners, or billboards printed for you.ColorSpan wide format inkjet printer
ColorSpan
Esprit, 8 colors and straight-through paper path
Colorspan
DisplayMaker Mach
XII
Colorspan
DisplayMaker Mach
12 ,
ColorSpan DisplayMaker XII and earlier 8 color models ColorSpan FabriJet for printing textiles and other fabrics
GretagMacbeth EyeOne .
ColorWings, textile
printer
Computer
monitors courses
(see training
courses , seminars)
cutters,
as in vinyl
cutters (large format printers that also cut along the outline
of the design to make signs).
Cutter for Trimming inkjet prints.
Cymbolic
Sciences Lightjet , Durst Lamda, large
format digital printers .
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DicoJet,
used with the Mimaki printer with 7 colors as proofer
Digital Graphics
Magazine
Digital
Painter, identical same printer as any other Mutoh
d-gen textile printers drum
scanner reviews
Durst
Lambda, large
format digital photo printer (see also Cymbolic Sciences LightJet)
Durst Rho ,
a $160,000+ solvent ink printer for thick and rigid materials
DVD-RAM ,
the best new technology for storing your digital images; Panasonic
is good choice, Maxell disks for DVD-RAM dye sublimation
inkjet printer systems for T-shirts, coffee mugs, textiles,
tiles, ceramics, glass, wood, metal
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EFI
Fiery Postscript
RIP , hardware RIP server for large format printers
Electrostatic printers
Encad
wide format, 24
inch , Chroma
24
Epson
wide format color inkjet printers
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Gerber
Orion , solvent-based ink printerGiclee large format Fine Arts printers,
Iris (Scitex) wide format printers such as the new GPrint,ColorSpan,
HP
DesignJet 5000ps
Roland
GIS ,
large format plotters for CAD, aerial maps, and comparable needs. Gigabit
Ethernet , as upgrade from 100Base-T Ethernet
Gradco, Mammoth ,
large format (flatbed) inkjet printer
for thick and rigid materials
Graphtec, SignJetPro ,
color inkjet plotter-cutters
Graphtec vinyl
cutters
Graphtec SignJet
Pro JX 2150 and JX 2100 , much improved cutter/plotters
Gretag
Imaging
GretagMacbeth EyeOne
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hard
drives, Seagate Ultra2 SCSI LVD recommended
Hewlett-Packard
wide format printers
HP 430,
450c, 488ca , earlier models for CAD
HP 750c,
755cm , earlier models for CAD, GIS, and graphic design
HP
DesignJet 1055CM
HP
DesignJet 3000 (and chart to show differences among the entire DesignJet series)
check
out the quality possible from the HP DesignJet 2800CP
HP 4000 HP
3500 HP 500ps for CAD, 800ps for
graphic design; new models with 1200 dpi, and fast
HP
DesignJet copier cc800ps, HP DesignJet 815mfp, wide format scan
to print HP
DesignJet 5000ps
and 5000 new models, 1200 dpi and fast
HP
DesignJet 5500 UV pigmented
inks for the HP 5000 and 5000ps
Hewlett-Packard
DesignJet 5500 inkjet printer to be shown at GraphExpoHewlett-Packard DesignJet 90, 90r, 90gp HP Designjet Z2100 and Hewlett-Packard Designjet Z3100 HP Designjet Z6100 Photo Printer Series
Hi
definition monitors reviewd at tradeshows Home ,
www.wide-format-printers.org
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IBM hi definition monitorICG drum
scanners , if you really need a good quality scan for your large
format printer
Ilford Imaging, wide format inkjet
printers Inks
Inks, Latex (HP printing technologies). inks ,
pigmented and dye based; inks for wide format inkjet printers (Van
Son now makes inks for wide format)
iProof ,
now updated for large format printers
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Jacquard ,
a leading company specializing in wide format inkjet printing on
fabrics
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LAC ,
DaVinchi, Art Robo, unusual (and very low -dpi) inkjet printers
from Japan laminating
equipment for wide format prints
USI laminating equipment and supplies
Latex inks , HP printing technologies Lazer
Images, Gigantagram ,
banner printer with spot colors (not an inkjet, can't do photographs)
Leggett & Platt Virtu UV-printer legal disclaimers
LED
photo printers and sophisticated wide format digital printers using
comparable technology for continuous tone photos
lenticular form of wide format prints
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Manfrotto tripod head Maya
sculpture, Scorpion
Constellation Deity (full view),
close-up of Moon
Goddess with Rabbit Compaion
Maya
jade , printed on ColorSpan HiRes 8 color
printerMaya vase
rollouts printed on large format printer
Media,
Canvas media
for wide format (photo paper in rolls for wide format ink jet
printers)
complete
list of every kind of media that can possibly fit through
an inkjet printer Rexam
Image Products (formerly Rexam Graphics), media for all kinds
of inkjet printers.
Mimaki wide format piezo-electric inkjet printers (also DicoJet inks with
Mimaki printers)
Mimaki JF0604,
JF1218 , new small flatbed printer for thick and rigid materials
Mimaki
vinyl cutters (upcoming)
Mimaki textile printers Monitors Mutoh wide format piezo-electric inkjet printers, OEMed as Mutoh Falcon,
Tektronix 600,
Mutoh textile printers Mutoh Viper TX, 65 inch and 90-inch
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Panorama photography
with large format digital system
Parrot: Epson
7600, 9600
Paper
and Inkjet Media
piezo-electric
printheads (Epson, Mutoh, Mimaki, Roland) vs thermal printheads
(ColorSpan, HP, Encad) pigmented
archival UV inks
American
Inkjet Pinnacle Gold
DicoJet
Inks
HP
pigmented UV inks
Lyson
(Lysonic) inks
VanSon
inks
plotters,
color plotters for CAD (Computer Aided Design, large format color plotters)
Postscript
RIP, hardware (EFI, ColorSpan, AHT)
Postscript
RIP, software (Amiable, Harlequin, YARC)
Printing ,
where you can have your signs, posters, banners, or billboards printed Proofing, using
inkjet printers as proofers
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scan
to print (using a flatbed scanner to print
directly to a wide format printer without any computer) ScanvecAmiable
screenprinting, screenprinting
masters from inkjet printers
Schneider
lenses for medium
format (Rolleiflex) and large
format Scitex
flatbed scanners , EverSmart Pro II Seagate
hard drives, Ultra2
LVD are best for now
Seiko Color Textiler 64DS launched, oil-based dye sublimationSeiko
Instruments pigmented
ink printer , oil-based inks
seminars (see training
programs )signs
(inkjet printers for printing
signs , POP, etc)
sign
layout software
FlexiSign layout
software that photographers use (Adobe ,
QuarkXpress, etc).
sign
layout software from CADlink
Signalize
(from Aurelon, formerly Dunaway)
SignJetPro ,
vinyl cutter plotter combined with color inkjet printer from Graphtec greatly
improved models of Graphtec SignJet Pro 2000 series, with HP printheads,
combo cutter/plotter
Sign
Warehouse Sinar
Bron 4x5 inch large format cameras; if you want a great wide
format print it helps to start with a good cameraSoftware
Solvent
ink printers (and printers using oil-based inks) for outdoor use
without lamination
Spectrum ,
an unusual upright large format printer from Alpha Merics stained glass effect ,Backlit Stork ,
an international company specializing in commercial printers for
textile production with inkjets sublimation
(dye
sublimation heat transfer ) with large format inkjet printers.
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Textiles,
indigenous Maya
textile from Guatemala, wide format inkjet print
Textiles Printers
textile
printers, inkjet printing on fabrics and/or dye sublimation heat
transfer to textiles
thermal
transfer printers such as the Matan Sprinter, one of the smaller
Roland printers, and others. Tips
on how to avoid problems with your wide format printer
training
programs , seminars; training
for digital imaging trimmers (paper cutters, for trimming wide format prints)
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Van
Son Holland Ink Corporation of America, inks for digital printing
with wide format inkjet printers Variatronics
(Brady) poster
printers , Variatronics XL3000 and other models
ViewSonic
21" monitor, recommendations for monitor
for graphics use
vinyl
printers, vinyl cutters (such as Roland
CamJet wide format vinyl printer cutter)
vinyl
cutters (solely cutter plotters),
ANAgraph ANA Express Elite cutter plottersGraphtec vinyl cuttersMimaki
vinyl cutters
Vinyl
Express ColorLock
system , CompuDif, SignWarehouse
Vivid
Image Technology , scan-to-wide-format-printer
system Vutek,
grand format SuperWide inkjet printers with solvent-based inks
VutekPressVu printer for thick and/or rigid objectsVutek
UltraVu 2360SC
Vutek
grand format printers, Vutek UltraVu 3300 ,
UltraVu 5300 ,
Ultra Vu 3360 EC
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Xaar
piezo electric printheads , compared and contrasted with Epson
printheads and HP thermal printheads Xaar
solvent based printers such as the Gerber
Orion
XES
Xerox Xpress , oil-based wide format printer, poor quality piezo
system, now discontinued (not recommended) XES
Xerox ColorgrafX
X2 , new oil-based wide format printer, considerable improvement
over former XES model.
X-Rite color measuring instruments for color management
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FLAAR,
Digital Imaging Technology Center , reviews
by Nicholas Hellmuth
last
updated March 1, 2002, updated Sep. 10, 2002; updated May 15, 2003; last updated May 21, 2003
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