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PostScript RIP for large format inkjet printers

EFI Postscript RIP

How will a PostScript RIP help your large format printing? A PostScript RIP is the brains behind your large format printer. A RIP is software that processes your images and tells your large format printer how to organize the image and where to spurt those millions of droplets of ink to create your beautiful picture. In many respects the RIP is as important a decision as the printer itself. Therefore we are developing this section on RIPs (a way of saying that this page is under construction, and here is the first installment).

There are countless smaller RIP companies but you are always safer to stick with the main companies that have international offices such as Caldera, Onyx PosterShop, Wasatch, PosterJet and other RIPs of this class. If a RIP company is not large enough to be international, they may disappear before they can provide an upgrade for your needs next year.

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All versions of EFI Fiery hardware RIP for all printers from year 2001 backwards may lack necessary features that virtually all software RIPs already have. However one notable feature of EFI Fiery RIP is total lack of any upgrade path whatsoever, plus inability to operate more than one single printer. Same problem with other hardware RIPs such as ps from Hewlett-Packard. We found this out the hard way... we have two EFI Fiery RIPs. If all the missing crucial features are implemented on future versions of EFI Fiery RIP, we may consider reevaluating this RIP.

With all the new models available at ISA and FESPA 2010, FLAAR is offering personalized consulting at each trade show. You can walk-the-floor with the Senior Editor of FLAAR and get his comments on any and all printers, inks, RIP software, color management, substrates, applications, etc. So if you wish to learn about the difference between combo, hybrid, and dedicated UV printers, how latex ink compares, about textile printers, etc. contact FLAAR to obtain consulting. You can also get consulting before ISA or FESPA anywhere in the world: Dr Hellmuth was in Dubai and India last week as consultant, and will be in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and China as consultant in the next two months. He was consulting in Korea and London in late 2009.

There is a nice French RIP for the XES ColorgrafX X2 that I saw in past years (before this branch of Xerox printers disappeared). This was our first view of French software; now, in 2008, we just spent several days inspecting this RIP company in their international headquarters in Strasbourg. So Caldera has more staying power than Xerox's printer division. Today Caldera is one of the top five RIP solutions for solvent and UV-curable flatbed printers.

We saw many other RIPs at 2002 tradeshows such as ColorByte. We will try to update this page after the final tradeshows of the 2002 season. But so far, PosterJet is the fastest RIP we have found.

Since RIP software is more complex today (summer 2008), I do most evaluations at the demo room of the manufacturer.

The FLAAR information network will be updating all its evaluations of RIP software during 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last updated: April 28, 2008.
Previous updates: Sept. 23, 2002, Oct. 20, 2001, Feb. 20, 2003.