In our September 30 newsletter we started offering the Eye-One by Gretag Macbeth. Since then, we've become much more familiar with the Eye-One Photo, the product we feel best suits the needs of our more professional clients.
If all you want to do is calibrate your computer monitor to match the industry standards, the inexpensive Eye-One Display 2 (we currently don't stock this item) or the ColorVision SpyderPRO with OptiCAL is your best solution. These calibration units cost less than $250, and make a huge difference in the accuracy of your digital display.
However, if you want to also "complete the loop", to calibrate and profile your inkjet printer so it really matches your display, then you need the Eye-One Photo. If you want to expand your loop to include your scanner, you need the Eye-One Publish.
The Eye-One Photo is part of the Eye-One Pro system. What sets the Eye-one (i1) Pro apart is its modular, upgrade-able design. Just like a professional camera system, the Eye-one Pro's modular system allows for a professional upgrade path, so you only have to buy the functionality you want and need, unless your circumstances and needs change.
You can start out with the Eye-One Photo and upgrade later to the "Publish". There are also other products in the Pro system that you can add, such as the "Beamer", that allows you to profile digital projectors so your presentations match the colors you created on your monitor.
Although there are less expensive color management products out there, they do not have the advantages of the Eye-One Pro system:
Modular, upgrade-able design. The Eye-One Pro (spectrophotometer) is the main equipment component of the Eye-One Photo, Publish or Beamer.
Profiling speed and accuracy. Less expensive systems have you print out 27, 125, 150 or 729 color patches to read with their spectrophotometer. With their systems, each patch must be read one-at-at-time. This takes a considerable amount of time. If one is in a hurry, he or she will use the calibration chart with fewer color patches. But the higher number of patches helps to insure greater profiling accuracy. With other systems, you can take hours to read the highest number of patches, only to find out after it is done your profile is worthless, because you misread one or more of the patches. By comparison, the Eye-One Pro can read 918 calibration patches with their strip-reader system in less than 10 minutes (it would take you more time to read a a less-accurate 125-patch chart with other systems). And as you glide the spectrophotometer across each strip of patches, you get instant confirmation that you've made an accurate pass, or that you need to re-do that pass. With the Eye-One Pro system, you'll be able to easily make profiles for a half-dozen of your favorite papers in the time it takes to profile one media with other less-expensive systems, and those profiles will be more accurate.
Until now, the cost of the basic unit in the Eye-One Pro system, the Eye-One Photo was $1495, and the Publish version was $2695. With the 30% discount, your price is now $1046.50 and $1886.50, respectively!
Although this sale has been going on since the beginning of November, we didn't want to run it UNTIL we had tested the Eye-One Pro Photo ourselves. A lot of dealers, who sell these units, have never used them, and some lead their customers to believe that they must buy the more expensive "Publish" version, over the "Photo" version.
While the Publish version is necessary if you are printing through a RIP (or if you also want to profile your scanner), the Photo version is perfectly adequate if you have an Epson printer and are using the standard Epson printer driver. In this position, the Epson is considered an "RGB printer", and the Photo version will calibrate and profile an RGB printer. It is only when you are printing through a RIP software that the Epson is considered a "CMYK printer", and it becomes necessary to upgrade or purchase the "Publish" version:
This confusion is furthered by Gretag Macbeth's marketing and product photos. The only difference between the Photo and the Publish (other than $1200 in price) is a code that allows you to utilize more of the software's features. Both products come with the same attachments and hardware. However, Gretag Macbeth's product picture for the Photo version seems to indicate that it only comes with the spectrophotometer, whereas the Publish version would appear to have more goodies:
Photo version
Publish version
But, as you can see, when we open the box to the Photo version, it contains the same hardware attachments and accessories as the Publish version:
Every printer is slightly different. Your Epson 2200 printer will print a little differently than someone else's 2200. Despite these minor differences, InkjetART has created some stock ICC profiles for the Epson 2200, 4000, PictureMate, and R200/R300/R320/RX500/RX600 printers using our in-house branded papers (i.e. our Micro Ceramic, Illuminata, and Duo Brite Matte). These stock profiles will help improve the performance of our paper with your printer. Check back often, as we expect this list to grow:
InkjetART offers something totally new in Salt Lake City and Utah: A Self-Serve Epson 4000 printing station, where YOU can make your own
large-format inkjet prints YOUR way --until you can justify buying your own
printer!
Our Self-Serve Epson 4000 printing station includes:
Epson Stylus Pro 4000 printer (17" width)
Loaded with 16" Epson Premium Luster, 17" Epson Enhanced Matte - or a paper of your choice (see below)
Workstation running Windows XP, fast CPU, lots of RAM and raid drives
DVD+/-RW drive; all memory card readers, FireWire and USB 2.0 connectivity
Epson 7600 (24") and 9600 (44") self-serve will be available in the future.
COST to use our Self-Serve Epson 4000 printing station:
$15.00/hour for use of the printing station
$40.00/hour for ASSISTED use of printing station (all first-time users are required to purchase a minimum of 1/2 hour of assisted use)
$2.40/square foot for Luster paper used (our 16" stock - includes ink)
$1.75/square foot for Matte paper used (our 17" stock - includes ink)
$1.00/square foot INK CHARGE for images printed with media you purchase from InkjetART (you must purchase whole packages or bring in previously purchased media)
$1.50/square foot INK CHARGE for images printed on media NOT purchased from InkjetART
Call today, to schedule time on the Self-Serve Epson 4000 printing station!
Call: 801-256-0360.
Two weeks ago we told you about the differences between the Mark II and the 20D. We have a limited number of new Canon EOS-1D Mark IIs (no rain checks) for insane prices (so low, we can't put them in the web version of the newsletter). Call 1-800-777-2076.
The Epson PictureMate makes fantastic 4" x 6" prints for only 29 cents each - guaranteed (your per-print price is guaranteed by Epson)! These prints have been tested to outlast (fade-resistant) all other photo prints on the market, and they are water-resistant. In addition, if you buy the PictureMate before December 31, 2004, you'll receive a mail-in coupon good for a $50 "Holiday Shopping Card" (good where ever VISA debit cards are accepted):
Although many of our clients might already have a more "powerful" digital camera, the new Epson PhotoPC L-410 would be a great camera for a spouse or as a kick-around, take anywhere camera. The L-410 offers a lot of features for its low $199 price (Epson had originally introduced this camera a few months ago at over TWICE this price)!
4 megapixels is more than adequate for most personal applications (I paid almost two grand four years ago for my state-of-the-art Olympus E10 4MP ...my how things have changed)! This camera is FAST --it will shoot up to 3 photos per second, and it has a 3X optical zoom.
NOTE: the L-410 also has the same has a voice annotation feature (mentioned in the above article on the Canon EOS-D1 Mark II), via a built in microphone, allowing as many 30-second WAV file format recordings to be attached to your images as you want. These files can be played back via most image organizing programs, i.e. Photoshop Album.
AND if you purchase selected printers at the SAME time (like the Epson PictureMate), you're eligible for a $50 mail-in rebate on the camera. For details, go to:
All longevity estimates should be treated as such, Inkjet Art Solutions is not liable for pre-mature fading of prints or damage to printers through use of our products. Be sure to properly research your purchase and follow the directions given. If you need help, please contact us.
For more information regarding our policies, including our return policy, please visit our Policies Page
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