Evaluating
media
for Wide Format Printers with QEA
 |
ICC
color profiles with GretagMacbeth EyeOne spectrophotometer
and color management profiler software. |
For
Encad
NovaJet, Roland,
ColorSpan,
Hewlett-Packard DesignJet, or Epson
7600, Epson 9600, Epson 10600 printers what wide format
media should you select?
First,
establish the goal of your wide format print? Indoor, outdoor,
transparent, backlit, banner, poster, POP, etc. For review
of options, we have prepared a comprehensive
list.
How
does FLAAR figure out what media to use in its twelve wide
format printers at two university test facilities? Years
of experience help. Then we have taken training in inkjet
media at HP in San Diego, California, and Barcelona, Spain.
That's why we know their media best. But we have also been
to paper mills in Germany and are preparing to take additional
training at other inkjet paper facilities later this year.
We also attend the IMI conferences and the seminars of
The Tiara Group too.
 |
| The
QEA color management equipment is being test at
our facilities. |
We
do color management tests with both GretagMacbeth EyeOne,
X-Rite DTP41-UV, each one with Monaco Profiler software
for ICC color profiles. Now we are adding the QEA Personal
IAS, Image Analysis System to the test equipment. This
will allow us to study the dithering pattern of each
RIP as well as overall line quality (for text) on each
media-ink combination. Whereas most sign shops and photo
labs know all the color management tools, they sometimes
forget to measure line quality. If you are an architect
or anyone using CAD or precision work such as GIS mapping,
you might want to check out what QEA equipment can do
for you. Their e-mail is info@qea.com;
their telephone (781) 221-0080. Their media testing
equipment is available worldwide.
Keep
in mind that some printers are restricted by the kind of
media
they can use. For example Epson makes only a very few kinds
of media for their Epson 7000, 7500, 7600 and Epson 9000,
9500, 9600 wide format printers.
Yet for Encad or Hewlett-Packard printers there are many
more
kinds of media available. This is partially a result of the
fact that HP is the market leader. This means there are more
HP DesignJets worldwide than any other printer. Naturally
the media companies prefer to develop media that works especially
well in HP DesignJet 5000 and 5500 printers.
| Azon |
bought
by InteliCoat
|
| Champion
Paper |
in
partnership with Rittenhouse Paper
|
| Clearprint
Paper Co. |
normal
range of media.
|
| Continental
Milano |
large
format ink jet supplies
|
| Dieterich-Post
Co |
media
especially for outdoors such as a scrim reinforced banner
material
|
| Fredrix |
archival
print artist's canvus |
1
(800) 241-8129
|
| Hawk
Mountain |
ink
jet, photo art paper, 100% cotton, sheets and rolls
|
|
Hewlett-Packard |
wide
variety of media for HP thermal printheads |
hp.com
|
| Ilford |
companies that have experience
in making traditional photo paper tend to make the
best inkjet media too. |
| IJ
Technologies, St Louis |
ink
jet media for dye and pigment based inks |
1
(800) 356-6962
314
946-8638
|
| International
Paper |
Panorama,
from Hammermill; I believe this brand went out of business
|
| Kodak |
Kodak
wants very much to be your main source of media.
But there are too many other companies already offering
media. For example, we use media from a dozen companies
but not one single solitary roll from Kodak. We could
never find anyone at the company who remained there
long enough to answer our request for media to evaluate.
|
| Lyson |
Lysonic
Fine Art Paper (best used with Lyson inks) |
lyson.com
|
| Mile
High Engineering Company |
sort
of went out of business
|
| Mitsubishi
Imaging |
makes
pro quality photo-base papers
|
| Oracal |
Orajet |
1
(888) 672-2251
|
| Polaroid |
went
bankrupt
|
| Parrot
Digigraphic |
canvas,
watercolor paper, for giclee and photography
|
| Rayven |
water
resistant and UV resistant outdoor media |
rayven.com
|
| Rexam
Graphics |
worldwide
company, wide range of media; company is changing its
name to Rexam Image Products. The two web sites appear
to be the same. |
now
called InteliCoat
|
| Rittenhouse
Paper |
in
partnership with Champion Paper
|
| Sihl
(Sihl USA) |
worldwide
company, wide range of media. Sihl is one of the few
companies with the experience and capability to manufacture
their own paper. |
sihlusa.com
|
Only
three or four companies make their own media. Most of the
rest is repackaged by convertors. Some of the companies
listed do not coat their own media either, they are retailers
of media from a wide variety of standard sources such as
Ilford.
Wide
format printers require paper and comparable media with
a special surface made to accept the ink. The media has
to be specific for the printer (again, a reason why you
get consistently good results using Encad media with an
Encad printer, you see better quality with Epson media
on an Epson printer and we have repeatedly noticed that
HP DesignJet works better on its own HP branded media).
 |
| Dr
Ming-Kai Tse, president of QEA, explains the potential
of the Image Analysis System to Brent Cavanaugh
and Chuck Spontelli. |
Once
you know little secrets such as this, then you can direct
your budget to a wide format printer that is definitely
speedier as well as perhaps even less costly and with
more color options. Service is also important; you do
not want a wide format printer that has poor service.
Thus we can report full satisfaction with Encad telephone
technical support.
Avoid
cheap media. Don't use regular paper; you normally need coated
stock. The only printer that you can get Kraft paper or newsprint
through is the HP 1050 and HP 1055 DesignJet models. If you
buy your paper directly from reliable media companies, then
you can avoid the loss of money involved in buying the wrong
media from someone else (if you buy low bid, as we did, this
is a sure way to end up paying more in the long run. Low cost
paper for your wide format printer is not cost effective if
you have to throw it away).
Aftermarket
companies, however, have also specialized in satisfying this
market with high quality media for wide format printers.
We
have tested wide format paper and media from Rexam
(Intelicoat). This media works just fine.
Be
sure your media did not get damaged in shipment. If the ends
got banged this bump will disorient your printheads. Also
check
out our other two web sites, www.large-format-printers.org
and www.FineArtGicleePrinters.org with additional information
on
media such as tips on how to handle media to reduce wastage.
Which
inks are best? In addition to the comments
on inks in this
site
|
