![]() Amateurs and professionals are skipping the lab and printing their images in the studio and at home. The recent deluge of digital cameras provided another change. Innovations have given digitally made prints a longer estimated life than color photographs printed from film. ![]() Artists have produced prints from software since the 1960s, but these techniques have surged since 1990. The introduction of laser printers and personal computers into design offices in the mid-1980s was a catalyst for years of experimentation and innovation in typeface design, layout, and printing. If you see any errors or have comments, please let us know.ĭigital technologies have spawned many changes to printing within the arts. Luckily, there are solutions for everyone today, so go out and get RIP’d.This tutorial is “Extension 4” from Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists, Second Edition, published by MIT Press. However, you may find that you plan on expanding your printing capabilities in the future and a server-based solution is the best place to start. If you are a mom-and-pop shop, then a workstation solution will probably be just fine. Hopefully, this will help you make a wise purchasing decision. It’s also easy to add new printers if you expand your shop further. Print processing is fast, jobs can be monitored and scheduled, and additional features specific to signmaking and, in some cases, textile printing, can be added or may be included. In other words, you need good IT skills in the shop. These devices will reside on a local network that allows all designers to submit files. Be aware that this is typically a minimum requirement, and for best performance, you will need to have large amounts of memory, a fast processor and loads of storage. For your own dedicated RIP, you will need to purchase a system that meets the software’s hardware requirements. Now, what if you have multiple printers from different manufacturers, dedicated operators and a room full of designers? You will either need to get a dedicated RIP as mentioned above, or you will have to roll with your own. ![]() If you have no plans to add additional printers and have a fairly beefy workstation, then this solution will probably be just fine. In other cases you add the software as an application that continuously runs in the background. In some cases you may be able to add RIP capabilities to your design software. This solution is usually the easiest to set up and the least costly. The workstation-based software is typically centered on small shops with one or two users. The hardware will be serviced under a maintenance contract and your job is training folks on how to use its features.įor most other shops, you can either choose to buy a package that runs on a workstation, or software designed to run on a dedicated server. You will typically find these with the larger, industrial printing companies and they can be a good choice if you run multiple grand format or high-speed printers. Some companies actually offer purpose-built hardware RIPs that typically are tuned to the manufacturer’s printers, though they may support other devices. In general, RIPs are software products whereby you provide the hardware platform. For simplicity’s sake we will assume that you want to get a PostScript (or a clone) RIP, as this will assure the best processing of PDF files. You will find that RIPs can reside in three different places. While options for RIPs abound, what we want to discuss now are the pros and cons of various RIP solutions, so that you can make an informed buying decision. THE BENEFITS OF RASTER Image Processors (RIPs) are tremendous and also necessary upon buying most digital printers.
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