(Another) RIP question, which for OSX?

[Widmark]

Hello-

Neophyte setting up my own shop. Canon 4100 on the way. I hope to do fine art/photography printing, and also GRACoL and other proofing.

I also hope to explore and learn more about color management, and will likely use an i1Photo Pro 3.

The only RIP i've worked with is Printfactory. I don't have any complaints about it but want to compare/explore the other OSX based options. And if the best answer truly is to just get a PC to run the RIP, I'll consider that, but for now I'm hoping to find something that runs on OSX.

Imagine money was no object. My list includes:

PrintFactory
ProofMaster
Caldera VisualRIP+ Pro
Imageprint Black
Colorburst Overdrive
Ergosoft
Serendipity Blackmagic
Shiraz Rosetta Midi

Ruling out less full-featured options/not full RIPs like ImageNest, Printao, PrintFab.

Main question...am I forgetting any major players? Is anything on my list something that shouldn't be considered? Any other thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[pauly92]

Caldera.

 

[bteifeld]

Ergosoft runs only in a PC environment, and is a very compelling RIP
due to its layout facilities, ability to efficiently manage small or
large numbers of printers, and long excellent experience in color management
for standard CMYK and extended gamut inksets. Pricing to add printers and/or
cutters is reasonable. Color measurement devices from Barbieri, Xrite, and others
are well-supported.

 

[Widmark]

thanks, not sure why I thought Ergosoft was OSX as well.

 

[Widmark]

One of the things that that confuses me about Caldera, I can't even tell from their website if CalderaRIP Version 14 and VisualRIP+ are two different products or the same. That doesn't bode well.

 

[bteifeld]

VisualRIP+ is a subcategory of whatever version, 14 or otherwise, you might be considering.

The subcategories (VisualRIP+, GrandRIP, etc) speak to ranges of printers and functionalities
that are included.

 

[Widmark]

Thank you.

 

[Puch]

Stick with Printfactory. When changing, you will gain some and loose some features. The important factor whether you can do effective and quick work on a system - and you already know Printfactory, which isn't better or worse than the competitors.

 

[Widmark]

OK...now I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between Printfactory and Proofmaster. I was under the impression that Printfactory Production had more features, but Proofmaster is several hundred dollars a year more expensive. I'm less concerned about the price than I am about what the feature difference is. I'm talking to a dealer now but open to any insight anybody else may have.

 

[Widmark]

AND.....after all that, apparently PrintFactory doesn't support the 4100 yet, just the 4100s. They support the 4000 and the 4100s. Looking at ImagePrint Black again as well now.

 

[StewartMultitasking]

We have just got a new printer, Epson Sure Color P9000, and so begins the onslaught of upgrades and costs for such, RIP O/S etc. It hasn't been as painful as I envisaged, managed to find a RIP that didn't cost every month, currently using the trial but for the money it's great, there is a Canon version and an Epson version, it's available on Windows and OSX and even on systems as old as 10.9.5 Its called Mirage by Dinax, the trial is fully functional for 14 days, there are several videos out there on youtube take a look.

 

[Widmark]

Responded in the other thread about also using Mirage, and still working to get PrintFactory going for it's additional features.

 

[benstarr]

AND.....after all that, apparently PrintFactory doesn't support the 4100 yet, just the 4100s. They support the 4000 and the 4100s. Looking at ImagePrint Black again as well now.

My understanding is it does support the Canon 4100, but you just tell the RIP it's a 4000 (not s)

 

[Widmark]

My understanding is it does support the Canon 4100, but you just tell the RIP it's a 4000 (not s)

That is the conventional wisdom...but it doesn't seem to work for me! I'm still troubleshooting it and Printfactory are trying to replicate the problem but cannot. I've tried 2 macbooks, one an i7, one an M1. I've tried a lot of different troubleshooting steps but maybe not every single one. I'm about to run it in Parallels to see if the RIP crashes there as well. But it seems most people who have the 4100 have been able to get it to work the way you mention. I'm just special I guess!

 

[Widmark]

My understanding is it does support the Canon 4100, but you just tell the RIP it's a 4000 (not s)

There's finally some new information...it's not just me. Other people using M1 machines are having the same problem. They're working on it, hopefully they'll release an update soon fixing the M1 bug and perhaps including full 4100 support.

 

[Widmark]

Latest update is they'll have full 4100 support shortly, and hopefully have any M1 bugs worked out.

 

[Widmark]

many months later update...

nobody's sure what the issue is and they can't replicate my problem. So I'm running PrintFactory's RIP on the older macbook air, I remote into that machine or switch my monitor over to it when needed, but mostly I can run PrintFactory's Layout app on my primary M1 machine and hit submit, it sends it to the RIP macbook and I don't even look at the RIP.
I'm also using Dinax Mirage or Canon's PP&L for when I want to use a profile not made through PrintFactory.

Still got a lot to learn but working on it.