24" Wide Format Printers

Interest in entry-level low-cost printers for photos and/or fine art giclee grows daily, so we have prepared this FLAAR report. It explains a few of the more noticeable defects with desktop printers, introduces true large format printers which begin at 2494 width, and then suggests alternatives. 93Wide format94 is synonymous with 93large format.94 Most people consider any printer 2494 and above as large format. Normally large format printers are roll-fed though some are equipped for sheet-feeding. The Iris, Ixia, and ColorSpan giclee printer are design around a rotating drum.

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    16

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    September 2004

Photokina Part I: 35mm SLF Digital Cameras, Medium Format including digital cameras backs, 4x5 cameras including scan backs Lens

The Photokina trade show occupied 14 giant halls of Germanic proportions. So the FLAAR Report is in two parts: first on digital photography so you know how to feed images to your printer; then the second part on the wide format printers themselves.

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    22

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    December 2002

Clear Coating Liquid Laminating Painting on to of Inkjet Print

What you can still do to a Giclee Print, After you have finished printing them 95 Clear-coating 95 (Liquid) laminating 95 Painting on top of an inkjet print 95 Every week painters are asking 95 93how should I laminate or clearcoat my prints?94 95 93What varnish will not crack or turn yellow with age?94 95 Many artists ask, 93How can I paint on top of my inkjet print once it is printed?94

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    9

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    February 2003

Details on Using a Reprograhic for Fine Art Giclee

This is the FLAAR update and revision of the operator92s manual for this $97,000 reprographic system in the FLAAR facilities at Bowling Green State University. The Cruse system is the Rolls Royce for digitizing your fine art paintings in order to reproduce them subsequently as a giclE9e print. This camera is designed and built as you would expect for a German engineering company (Cruse GmbH).

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    17

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    November 2002

Wide Format Inkjet Printers for Fine Art Giclee

In this report we will describe the inkjet printers many commercial fine art studios use to produce and sell fine art giclee art as well as the printers used by individual artists, photographers, and low budget operations. Understanding the equipment and what commercial giclee printing studios use will give you an overall view of each product reviewed. Of course, today, with the advance of new technologies, there are plenty of perfectly satisfactory fine art printers available at more reasonable prices. Covers Epson, Encad, Canon, ColorSpan, Hewlett-Packard, Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, and the legendary Iris and Ixia.

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    46

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    September 2004

Photographing Paintings to reproduce Fine Art

If you intend to undertake giclE9e printing for either fun or profit, you need to figure out how to digitize the oil paintings or watercolor paintings. Dr Hellmuth spent a month doing this with 18th century oil paintings on canvas at the Malta Centre for Restoration, University of Malta. This report is the result of the work of his team. Also includes appendix based on the work of the FLAAR staff at Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala who also do giclE9e printing (which implies they also have to photograph the paintings to begin with).

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    22

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    May 2003

Ink and Media for Fine Art Giclee Prints and Photo Realistic

When you ask about media and/or inks its tough, because every special need has different requirements. Every machine prefers different media and some won92t work on some printers. Some media does not work with pigmented inks for example. This report discusses first media, then inks. 93Media94 is jargon for material that is coated with a receptor powder which accepts the inkjet ink and makes the image look beautiful. Yes, you can print on uncoated paper; we print on raw Kraft paper and you can print on raw newsprint, but that92s normally not what you, or your clients, want to see.

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    22

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    May 2003

Epson Stylus Pro 7600 with UltraChrome Ink Evaluation and Review

This is one of the few totally independent reviews that exists. If you wish to learn the truth about this printer, based on actual use printing photographs and giclee, do yourself a favor and get ahold of this new report, by Stephanie Madeya (Bowling Green State University) and Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR at BGSU).

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    24

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    January 2004

Opportunities in the DE9cor Market for Wide Format Inkjet Printing

How to Distinguish Giclee from DE9cor # How to Distinguish Fine Art Photography from Giclee # How to Distinguish Fine Art Photography from Commercial Photography

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    13

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    January 2004

Scanning 35mm Slides and Negatives

Scanning medium format and large format chromes is a bit different than scanning 35mm negs and slides, so we have a separate report on each in this series. The entire FLAAR project on digital imaging is based on the Japanese ministry of education providing a grant for Professor Hellmuth to assist the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, on how to scan their photo archive (which was largely Dr Hellmuth92s own photos which the museum had purchased the year before). This Japanese project and a succeeding scanner project had a budget of about $250,000. So you get all the results of all these years experience, for an economical $124 for the entire series (or discounted down still further to $100 if you have already become part of the FLAAR favored readers by filling out the inquiry form).

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    21

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    September 2004

Black and White Quadtome Photography

B+W Printing with Wide Format. We get so many requests for this that we are initiating evaluations of various solutions. It will be another six months before our research is finished, but you are welcome to ask for the preliminary version which is ready now. Just keep in mind that this report is still in a rather unfinished state. B+W prints from the most popular low-cost inkjet printers turn green, so you might want to avoid them and their problems with metamerism

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    12

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    February 2002

Print Resolution for Wide Format Printers

This report actually informs you the different requirements for thermal printheads (Canon, Encad, ColorSpan, and HP) vs piezo printheads (Epson, Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland). Professor Hellmuth also adds facts on what resolution is required for RGB laser light imagers such as Durst Lambda, LightJet. Dye sub dye transfer printers (wax or resin ribbons) are a different technology again, and require a resolution which is not the same as inkjet. Everything on resolution, for your scanner, for your digital camera, for your printer, are all contained here.

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    20

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    May 2003

Scanning Medium Format and 4x5" trnasparencies for Photographers

Scanning medium format and large format chromes is a bit different than scanning 35mm negs and slides, so we have a separate report on each in this series. The entire FLAAR project on digital imaging is based on the Japanese ministry of education providing a grant for Professor Hellmuth to assist the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, on how to scan their photo archive (which was largely Dr Hellmuth92s own photos which the museum had purchased the year before). This Japanese project and a succeeding scanner project had a budget of about $250,000. So you get all the results of all these years experience, for an economical $124 for the entire series (or discounted down still further to $100 if you have already become part of the FLAAR favored readers by filling out the inquiry form)

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    21

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    September 2004

Canon ImagePROGRAF W8200

Your main decision when you set up, or expand, is whether to go for a ColorSpan, Encad, Epson, HP, or Canon wide format printer. So we cover them in different reports.

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    43

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    January 2004

Wide Format Inkjet Printers for Commercial Photography

Portrait photography, architectural photography, commercial photography, fine art photography, and taking pictures of paintings to reproduce as giclee prints all call for different cameras and slightly different kinds of wide format inkjet printers. Nicholas Hellmuth has 42 years experience in photography and every size and shape of wide format inkjet printer in his two university labs. So here is the ideal place to get some facts, before you spend big bucks on what may be the wrong printer.

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    9

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    March 2004

Continous Tone RGB Printers Lambda LightJet Chromira

Many of our readers as 93Should I buy a LightJet or Lambda, or have Inkjet printers caught up yet in continuous tone quality.94 This report is by Brent Cavanaugh, who writes from many years experience in a pro photo lab in Dallas, Texas, before taking over as manager of the FLAAR print facility at Bowling Green State University. Comments have been added by Nicholas Hellmuth based on his inspection of a photo lab which had several Durst Lambda92s. Was an eye-opening experience.

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    5

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    September 2002

Recommended Printers at 11" x 17" and 13"x19" sizes for Giclee

Printers for 11x17 and 13x19 inches: Epson 5500 and HP 20ps. Many people wish to start printing giclees with a desktop-sized printer. That's how we started, yes, FLAAR too started with letter-sized Epson printers. By 1997 we were into 36" wide format and now have nine printers with two more on trucks heading to the university. So we understand where you are coming from with your desire to print with desktop sized printers. Although we cover only tabloid size and above, at least we can tell you which printers in this size class to avoid. Some of them are infamous. We are gradually adding comments on Canon printers too.

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    8

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    June 2004

Workflow in Digital Photography

Summary of sort of everything you need to think about in doing the original photography to sending the image through software to get it enlarged with an inkjet printer, Fuji Pictrography, Durst Lambda, LightJet, or other kind of digital printer.

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    8

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    May 2003

Wide Format Printers exhibited at Photokina 2002. Also inks, media, and RIPs for Wide Format Printers. Photokina Part II

Photokina, held every two years in Cologne, Germany, is the top photography trade show in the world. Dr Hellmuth has an office in Cologne so he spent 5 days at Photokina gathering information so you can decide which digital cameras are optimal for using to produce wide format inkjet prints.

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    12

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    December 2002

Wide Format Printers exhibited at Photokina 2002. Also inks, media, and RIPs for Wide Format Printers. Photokina Part II

Photokina, held every two years in Cologne, Germany, is the top photography trade show in the world. Dr Hellmuth has an office in Cologne so he spent 5 days at Photokina gathering information so you can decide which digital cameras are optimal for using to produce wide format inkjet prints.

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    12

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    December 2002

Photography Equipment for Wide Format Inkjet Printers at PhotoPlus Expo trade show

Realize that the year 2002 is still current even today. Most photography companies show their new products up to a year before they are actually available. There are digital cameras shown at these which are only ready to look at now. So all year 2002 trade show reports are valuable reading still today in 2003.

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    13

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    January 2002

Notes on Camera Equipment from PMA Photography Trade show

March 9203

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    14

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    March 9203

FLAAR Series on Giclee Printing.

Nicholas is well suited to discuss fine art giclE9e printing since his PhD is in art history from a European university. He has done research in, photographed in, and/or lectured at leading museums on three continents, from Tokyo, Melbourne and from Canada down through Latin America. FLAAR has an Iris 3047 giclee printer cheek to jowl with two Mimaki, five HP, three Epsons, and two ColorSpans. Plus we have scrutinized Roland printers in Canada, USA, Guatemala, and Malta. We have checked out Roland, Encad and Mutoh printers at more than 17 trade shows in three countries (United Kingdom, Germany, and across the USA). Intro to Fine Art: Abstracts of the FLAAR Series on Giclee Printing is the free introduction so you can decide whether you wish to subsequently order the entire FLAAR premium Series on fine art giclE9e printing.

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    20

Update:

    March 2007