Big, sweet, high res ouput.

[Greg Vander Houwen]

I am thinking about doing a pretty large print and I am looking for your opinions on output devices.

The file is just under 15000 x 10000 px. It is heavily laced with vector mask work, so for the areas where it counts, this is uninterpolated resolution.

My goal is to create an example print of how vector masks in illustration allow for this kind of resolution from a highly complex/deep layer stack.

What I'd like is an 8 foot wide... or so print. I'm figuring the view distance at about 10 feet. But I would like a resolution/dot pattern that will hold up nicely on close inspection. Ideally this would be an archival on a substrate with just a bit of tooth.

Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Greg

[theGuest]

:stare:
"Ideally this would be an archival on a substrate with just a bit of tooth."
:stare:

ok... THAT'S where i KNEW i was lost... hahaa... eeeboy. %'

I have little print experience Greg, so unfortunately i can't be of help with this. But it DOES sound interesting though. I 'sort-of' understand the other stuff you mentioned. Just not 100% fully - from a technical standpoint.

[jonbalza]

I would have to agree with theGuest. (In other words, I am mostly lost as well.) I wish I had that amount of experience with print to be able to help. Couldn't you contact a service bureau and ask them for advice? If you told them you were thinking about getting it printed there, I'm sure you could get the information you want.

Also, can I ask what type of workstation you are using to be able to handle a file of that size? That has to be gig+ scratch sizes.

Jon

[Greg Vander Houwen]

Well... what it comes down to is that I have a file that could potentially take advantage of some of the best large format, print technology out there.

I have a few friends at various service bureaus and I will do some research there as well but I wanted to see any of the members have had great results on specific machines, ink sets and substrates.

As to hardware, I am just running a G4 400 mhz, it does have plenty of RAM and scratch. Actually it works pretty well for this. And yes, part of the layered file read at around 1.6 gig. It's a good size file but nothing to write home about. I know some people that have had issues with the 30,000 pixel limit. Personally I haven't got close to that yet. Still it could make for a very nice print.

Jeff,

Thanks for the offer, that might make for a nice visit. We could set the thing to spitting ink and then retire to the lounge ;).

BTW: What kind of resolution does that 10000 really need. I've never fully understood the screen frequency to dpi ratio on stocastic devices. Is it different for each method? Ideally I'd like to have something pretty large (maybe 8 feet is unrealistic) that you can walk right up to, look real close, and still see a really tight rendering.

I have seen some 9500 prints that look pretty sweet but I am looking to push the envelope with this. The thing is, I haven't been around big devices like this for a while so I don't know where the edge is.

Greg

[Jeff Schewe]

Greg. . .

While I know there are some large format inkjet printers used for making billboards that can do up to 40 foot x 96 foot output on sinlge sheets, I think that's a bit big for you. They may also be able to do smaller continious output. I know there are a couple in LA (don't know their names).

I don't see how you are going to get a single 8 foot wide output with any of the known large format plotters/printers.

I've heard of Encads (I think) that do 52" output. I think Kodak may as well. But, that would require a seam for 8ft x 10ft. Most of the large format output for displays are seamed (or designed for fitting on max paper size).

I've got an Epson 10,000 that can output 42" output by whatever length. Epson Premium Luster comes in that width (but I don't have a roll). But, if you get to the Chicago area in the next few months, stop by. If you let me know a couple 3 weeks in advance, I can finagle a couple of wide rolls from Epson (I'm in their Epson Stylist Pro program). But, them's are pretty darn big files. . .better bring them on a big Fire Wire drive <BG>

Mounting would be up to you!

[sPECtre]

We do work with a 52 inches HP 3000CP, the result are quite good! If you use a software rip like Postershop or Colorflare, it's definitely possible to tile the image on different pages as Mr Schewe said.

You said 8 feet wide... what is the height you need ther is maybe no tile involved, as you speak only about viewing distance?

Don't worry about the file size, my workmate told me he printed an image of more than one gig! You just need enough free space for the scratch file :-)

[Three Z]

Jeff,

Just curious, we have an epson 9000 here at work, and are looking into the 10000 as a replacement. Do you think the 10000 is they way to go? One other thing, we use a rip from best color to drive the 9000. It seems to do a really good job, and appears to be considerably faster than what we have seen in the fiery rips that we previously used for our 3 epson 5000's. What rip do you prefer for the 10000.

Regards

Three Z

[Jeff Schewe]

Z,

I don't have a rip. Don't want one because Photoshop 6.0 is all the rip I would ever need-with far better color management than any rip I've ever seen.

The 10K printer is way fast. . .either Fire Wire (best) or 100 base Ethernet or USB (slowest). I've got mine networked. I only print out uni-directional (bi-directional is faster but less precise) to maintain highest print output. The 10K is way fast compared to the 9000. I would hazzard a guess at about 2x?

I've got the archival version. I've run custom profiles for the main media I use and I'm quite impressed with the output. I have a good friend, Carl Corey from Gallery Print (www.galleryprint.com) who does highend printing with a 9K and MIS inks. It's deffinately pokey. (nice output thouht).

The smaller inkjet size and variable dot of the 10K makes output of the 10K really photographic looking. Let me know if you have any specific questions. . .

[Greg Vander Houwen]

Welcome Three Z,

Greg

[Three Z]

Thanks for the hospitality guys

Looking forward to participating in this forum

Regards

Z