RIP suggestions please

[TJD12485]

Hello,

My shop is currently running two Vutek large format digital printers, and we are using Colorburst for our RIP server. We've been looking for alternate RIP software, and were considering going with Fiery, but we don't want to be locked into only using Vutek presses. We may potentially add another press or possibly switch out the older Vutek for maybe an Agfa model press. So I'm looking for suggestions on good RIP software that can support a wide variety of Digital Presses. Does anyone have any experience with Onyx and know if it is easy to learn and works well? I have advanced training with Colorburst and am able to do linearization and profiling with it.

Thanks for your time

 

[fbjr4print]

We have tried both Onyx and Colorburst. Although, Colorburst is really good when running Vutek devices, I believe is not longer supported.
Caldera is an excellent option if you are planning in running multiple machines from different manufactures. We currently use it for running, Epson, Durst, HP, and Vutek devices.
It offers you complete functionality when ripping files (i.e crop marks, grommet marks, paneling, tiling, etc) If you want to create custom profiles for all your devices, Caldera Total Color allows you to that.
You will need a spectrophotometer (Barbieri) that can create both front and backlit profiles if that of one of your goals. Check out their website at Caldera.com - RIP software for large and grand-format peripherals
Hope this helps.

 

[zombie]

EFI ColorProof XF?

 

[TJD12485]

Yeah I'm sorry I meant we were looking at using EFI XF Fiery, which I don't know too much about other than the sales rep we've used in the past was saying that it will only really work with Vutek machines. I'm not really sure where to start looking for information about whats available, I only know Colorburst which is no longer supported so we need to find another option. The sales rep had suggested Onyx and said that it was becoming the industry standard, but I don't know how accurate he is on a lot of stuff. I was hoping to find a good starting point to gather information on my own.

Thank you for the suggestion on Caldera I will definitely look at that.

 

[Correct Color]

The honest answer to your question is: It depends.

You probably are in the right ballpark, with Onyx and Caldera being the two RIP's most likely to fill your bill. However, which one os the best choice for you depends greatly on the nature of your business.

But just in a very brief nutshell, I'd boil it down to this: If ease of workflow is your main goal, I'd give the edge to Caldera. If absolute best color is main your goal, I'd give the edge to Onyx, but with a huge caveat: You can get better color out of Onyx than you can out of Caldera, but Onyx doesn't tell you how to do it. In fact, even though this is the main reason I'd consider buying Onyx, odds are that if you just listen to the guy selling it to you and do exactly what he says...you'll get better color out of Caldera.

Just by the way, I've set up and profiled dozens of RIP's in situations just such as yours. This is a pretty big decision, and it's more than worth your while to do a little research to make sure you get it right, and even to hire a professional to guide you through the process.


Mike Adams
Correct Color