RIPS for HP Latex 370

[MitchtheMitch]

Looking into an HP Latex 370 and wanted some outside input on RIPs. Looked at Wasatch, Onyx and FlexiRIP.

Thanks

 

[pauly92]

I run onyx thrive x12 on an Oce arizona 480xt.
My opinion will be bias because it's the only rip i've used. But i've used x10 and x12. (x12 is far superior to x10)

Depending on what package you get, There's job editor (pre flight) where you'd colour manage the file ect. and there's also layout tool which is also colour managed, but more for roll to roll printing where you can select a number of files and place them on the page ect and print it all at once.

I'm pretty sure you can download the trial off their site. i did for x12, but i had a key already so not sure if it plays a part in it, it all worked except their ICC engine was disabled (useless anyway) but a good way to try it out.

 

[Correct Color]

Mitch,

Honestly, the RIP doesn't make just a whole lot of difference with the 300 series latex printers mainly because so many of the inking controls that are possible in a RIP on other printers have been taken away and the machine has been made into a very restrictive contone-only printer.

Also the entire series has some serious color inconsistency issues that are caused by the way it handles how it manages its onboard "calibration" routine -- which I have confirmed through my own testing -- and also -- so others have reported but I've never actually confirmed -- by the configuration of its light cyan and light magenta printheads. As would be expected, these issues are most notable the closer you get to neutral, so if you're particular about consistent color and/or you print a lot of greys, you might want to reconsider your selection of printer.

Aside from that though...

I wouldn't advise Wasatch. Not unless cost is your main concern. It has no built-in Pantone library and building spot color libraries in it is possible but extremely annoying. It's easy to learn and use, but its main selling point is price.

Flexi... Meh... Not my first choice, but not a disaster.

Lots of people like Fiery XF and with good reason. I'm not really one of them, but it is a front line RIP.

Me, I sell Onyx and I sell Caldera, so I'm kind of partial to both of them. Both of them are full-featured front line RIP's, with lots of printer and inking control features the 300 series won't let you use, and both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Some people love Caldera and hate Onyx. Some people the other way around.

Some people will tell you that Caldera is blazing fast, and it usually is... but my experience has been that's mainly due to the fact that it's always on a Mac or a dedicated Linux box, and never on some wheezing old bloatware-infested Windows machine. On comparable machines, they run about the same, which is fast enough that RIP time is for all intents and purposes never an issue.

My bottom line would be that if I was you -- honestly -- I'd pick another printer first, but then, if you tend to think of yourself as a Windows guy, you'll probably like Onyx better. If you tend to think of yourself as a Mac guy, you're liable to prefer Caldera.



Mike Adams
Correct Color

 

[MitchtheMitch]

Mike,

What printer(s) would you recommend? We're marketing related printing so consistency is a big deal!

Mitch

 

[DYP]

I run the L360 with Fiery XF. XF does not support the L370 at this time. In realty the 300 series are good printers. It is too bad that HP decided to make it a Contone device which takes a lot of ink controls away from the end use. But that being said if you are a novice to color management it makes it very easy to get decent output from the printer.

There are ways to get better output and instead of going into that detail here I have listed some links of those discussions.

http://printplanet.com/forum/wide-f...542-hp360-latex-g7-targeted-color-calibration
http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?128041-Latex-360-color-consistency-is-not-there
http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?130793-Hp-latex-360-printer

Knowing when and what settings to use the lc/lm inks will get you a long way towards color consistency. Also I am told there is new firmware to be released that is supposed to address the issue with the lc/lm printhead.

All printers have their good and bad points. Do a lot of research and ask questions, get demos preferably from end users if you can and then decides what best fits your needs.

 

[MitchtheMitch]

Thanks DVP! I've got a slow weekend ahead of me so I'm going to read more on the 360-370s!

 

[Correct Color]

Mitch,

What printer(s) would you recommend? We're marketing related printing so consistency is a big deal!

That would depend entirely on what it is you want to do, and how much you've got to spend; but from pretty extensive experience with just about every printer/RIP combination out there, I'd lean sort of in the Seiko or Epson direction, depending on price and features, and just overall add that I am a huge advocate of light colors, especially light black -- light-light black is even better -- and also of any inkset that includes orange.

As far as all that reading on the HP, if you want to wade through all that, feel free, but the bottom line is that the machines are extremely controversial right now -- the conclusions are pretty much as I stated above -- and myself, I would not recommend them, nor would I buy one.


Mike

 

[DYP]

If you look as Epson defiantly get options and others experiences with ink fading.