#color output
9 messages in this thread
A word of caution from out west. Yes it is great fun, but……
Save money for hard copy output. This is a real challenge, and you must
send your client home with a picture, and it must be good. This will start at
$1000 and go up
You need input i.e. a scanner. Start at $1300
You need graphics editing programs such as photostyler or corel –
something that works in 24 bit color
you need time to master all this stuff
you'll need massive amounts of ram
You need a unique sales pitch. The graphics speak for themselves, you
don't need to sell that. What you need to be able to do is get the customer
over the skepticism of buying this in addition to cabinets. Here in phoenix, a
landscape company uses imaging to sell their landscapeing. The image alone is
$100, not much. They make their money off the landscape.
Here where contruction is king, I am still hard pressed to find companies or
agencies that will spend money on imaging. Yes, they all like it, but the money
is just not in the budget. You need to overcome this, any way your market
allows – i.e. big jobs. Problem here is there arent a lot of big jobs around.
Enough for now. good luck
Mark
Mark,
Actually, I have already overcome some of the $ problems. I have found that
the HP 560C is a fantastic output device. I have generated a table with 3DS,
tweeked it in Corel Photo-paint and printed it to the 560 and it is beautiful,
especially if it is done on Glossy paper.
I have 16 meg now and indications are that it will be sufficient for now (I'm
not doing animation yet).
Here in the New York we do renovations that run in excess of $250,000 so I
would imagine that an investment in imaging should be justifiable.
Lastly I must say that here in the forum I have heard a lot about the time
required to build and render models. I am doing it now in Generic 3D and am
working on better planning (utilising layers with an eye to rendering which
should save time) and it seems that it has a lot to do with experience in the
field of architectural modeling.
We saw much of this same problem when Auto-cad et al. were first used in
petrochemical design. People had usually to learn either the computer or, if
they were computer people they had to learn Piping design. Not too many people
had good experience in both. I don't think anyone today would consider pencil
faster.
I'll keep you informed how it goes.
Thanks,
Don
I didnt mean to discourage you, only caution you to avoid the mishaps.
I'm interested in what you've done with the hp560c. I have the 550c with
updated color drivers, and never been happy with the color quality. I've
stopped short of their dollar a sheet glossy paper, but did buy some of their
cx series bond. I've also tried several types of sort-of-glossy laser paper
that i was told was just as good as the expensive stuff.
None of it seems to work very well. Primary colors come out fine, but the
closer you get to a photograph, the muddier the colors become. I'm about ready
to buy a $55 pack of the good paper, but it bothers me.
Any advice is appreciated.
thanks,
mark
Mark,
I don't think the problem is your paper. The 560C has a separate cartridge
for black which makes all the difference in the world. I used my 560C with a
package that didn't have a 560 driver and used it in the 550 mode which forced
it to use a composite black. The composite line is just muddy. Even the
drawings I do in black and white have a much better look do to the fineness of
line which I think you can only get with true black.
The only other color printer in the price range ($600) is the Canon, but I have
that the HP is just a bit better.
So far, I find it outstanding for color or text or any combination thereof.
Keep in mind I haven't even tried it with anything other than standard laser
paper.
Don
>> The only other color printer in the price range
>> ($600) is the Canon, but I have that the HP is
>> just a bit better.
You were correct a few days ago. The new Epson Stylus Color is now available
(I have one) and it lists for about $600, just like the Canon 600. But the
Epson can print at 720×720 (on special paper for best appearance) or at
360×360. Anyone who wants low cost color should, in my opinion, get a sample
of output from this printer. It is just outstanding. The only drawback comes
when you figure out the size of a page (8x720x10x720=HUGE<g>).
Do you mean the expensive glossy paper is not necessary? Ive tied the
semi-gloss laser paper and the ink just bleeds across the page before it dries.
Mark
I've been using the 550C and have been getting some satisfactory prints on
glossy paper. Anything less is just too washed out as the ink soaks into the
fiber. I would recommend RenderPrint from Insight. One of its big benefits is
test prints varied over 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5 samples on one sheet. Russ Wood is
here on the forum sometimes, maybe he'll jump in.
TedB
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I have their print-a- plot driver for hpgl files. It was a real kick in the
head to open the printer box after spending $600 just to see that flier in
there telling me if i wanted it to do what I bought it for, I had to spend
another $100.
nevertheless, what kind of glossy paper? Regular laser paper doesn't seem to
work. The only time i got really good color was on the one sheet of the
expensive stuff they enclosed with the printer. I just have a problem with
dollar a sheet.
I dont understand what you mean that test prints varied – would you elaborate?
thanks,
mark
Mark
The dollar-a-sheet paper is the only paper that will give good results. What
RenderPrint does is adjusts either brightness, contrast, or gamma (your choice)
over a specified range and prints out up to 25 images on one sheet with 25
settings of contrast, for instance. The settings are printed under the image,
you select the best test and set the program to those settings for the full
print. Gives a lot more mileage out of a box of fairly expensive paper.
TedB
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