This debate is getting more interesting........
-Jan Steinman wrote:
"I agree that at normal viewing distance, an Epson ink-jet print looks
better than an Alps print, but let's not get too excited about the
ink-jet industry's marketing abuse of the term "DPI." In reality,
printing above 300dpi will reveal no improvement on such printers,
although they claim as much as "1440 DPI resolution" in their specs."
Normal viewing distance? Isn't that what we want? Sure I can look at
Cibachromes with a loupe and see grain. Does that not mean that I would
not want to use a Cibachrome print. The 1440 dpi is not meant to mean
that your file size should be 1440 dpi. Thats crazy. File size is
important. Quality not quantity. Remember to check for out of gamut in
your photo editor (ie Photoshop). All inks can only deliver a certain
range of gamut. Photograhic processes generally offer a wider range
however that can be also be decieving. The 1440 dpi refers to the ink
jet nozzle. The finer & closer together these dots are to each other
the more detail can be created not neccessarily gamut. So a photo out
of gamut would not print well regardless of the sharpness ect. The most
important principal in output is knowing what the limitations of the
output device are. Use profiles in your program that correlate well to
your output device. Dye subs do in many cases fall short here. Since
the dye sub is a less stable chemical transfer process they usually
don't have the wide tolerances of ink in various situations.
If you are interested in genuine photograhic output and gamuts, have
your files output in a true photo process. Many of the newer 1 hour
labs will have the capability of outputing a digital file directly to
their high speed photo printer. The cost of this process will be much
less than dye sub materials and the quality will be truly photograhic.
Unlike printing to a negative or slide (film recorder) you will not have
that middle step. I think this will kill dye subs once and for all.
Most prices quoted will be around $6 for an 8x10. And you've got your
output as a photo if that's what you want. Most of my work is for
pre-press so I'm still a slave of ink.
Phillip Franklin
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