#Color Printers
14 messages in this thread
Can anyone reccommend some good color printers $3000 and under that work well
with 3DS?
We have been using the Fargo Primera Pro now for about 3 months and have been
extremely happy with it. Although there is no direct support for this printer
in 3DS, there are many shareware/freeware graphic printing programs available.
This printer is dye-sub standard with a 600×300 resoution. Very good colors
and very simple to use. For some product information, give Fargo a call at
800-FARGO-22. Street price is around $1500.00. Hope this helps!
Dean Oliver
Virtually Real
Dean,
Did you see my message to Chris? Is this your first Fargo printer? I'll
definitely agree the wax thermal output is much better. My dye sub output
looks the same, though. Do you do much wax thermal, or mostly dye sub? I
don't do much wax thermal, so I'm wondering if I went the right route.
Roger D.
Hi Roger,
This is my first Prmera, however I have compared it to a standard Primera and
have noticed a difference (albiet slight) with the Pro. I don't do a whole lot
of wax printing so I can't say for sure. I do feel that Fargo is a good
company to deal with. They just need to get a little more organized with their
tech-support. I spent some time on the phone with them and the woman I spoke
with flat out told me that they had little to no experience with Photoshop, 3D
applications, etc. The problems that I originally experienced, they kept
trying to blame on software. I finally convinced them that I had a burned out
strand in the print element, and after another 20 minutes of arguing, I finally
convinced them to send me a new one.
Other than that one incident, I have nothing but praise for this printer.
Dean Oliver
Virtually Real
Dean,
Thanks for the recommendation on the Fargo Primera Pro. I am a new 3DS user.
It will be a few months before I invest in a printer.
<< Although there is no direct support for this printer in 3DS, there are many
shareware/freeware graphic printing programs available.>>
Where would I find these programs and which one(s) are you using?
Chris
Chris,
The Primera Pro comes with windows drivers but I found a program here on CIS
called PrintGF (sorry, cant remember which forum, I will let you know) that
has direct printing support in both DOS and Windows for the Primera and Primera
Pro. Thu UI is a little quirky but it is an excellent program.
Dean Oliver
Virtually Real
Chris:
I don't have one yet but I have heard good things about the Fargo Primera
(about $1250 +/-). It is a dye-sublimation printer which appeals to me for the
price/value which is tough to find in other printers.
Bob
Chris,
I picked up a regular Fargo with the photorealistic upgrade about half a year
ago. My experience with it was very good. When they announced the Pro, I sold
my regular Fargo and ordered one. I don't if it's the one I got, or what
exactly, but to be truthful, what I got out of it wasn't any better than the
results I was getting out of my original Fargo. And rendering to 300 dpi is a
lot slower than 205 dpi. I sent them a print of the same image printed on the
first unit, and the same image printed on the second unit, each rendered to the
appropriate resolution and treated the same in Photstyler. They agreed there
was no difference, and seemed a little confused. They're supposed to send me a
new Pro next week, but if it looks the same as the last one, I think I'm going
to ask for one of the originals and take a credit. I can recommend Fargo as a
company so far, and I can recommend the regular Fargo with dye sub. I just
can't make a judgement as far as the Pro as of yet. I'll let you know what
happens if you're interested.
Roger D.
Roger,
Thanks for the info on the Fargo. I am interested in hearing if the new Pro is
better than your original.
Chris
Rodger,
I saw the Pro at a show recently and couldn't see the difference on
images…but the main shortcoming of the regular old Fargo that we have is that
text and line art look really bad at 203 dpi. The 300×600 res should really
help in that department. Also, we have a lot of Mac users who are itching to
get one now that they have a PS/AppleTalk module.
If the 300 dpi mode is too slow, can you still send files at 200 or 203 dpi?
Also, FYI, after printing a lot of images on the thing, and trying a lot of
different apps and setups, we found:
1) printing from Photoshop in CMY mode gives vastly superior color,
2) plugging it into a Pentium saves a few minutes on each print
3) scaling and rotating your prints in your app prior to printing is a heck of
a lot faster than letting the Fargo driver do it for you.
I am tempted to try some of the Windows print speedup utilities, but I doubt
that they could do much on the performance front.
PrintGif is a great little utility, but the output doesn't look nearly as nice
as Windows/Photoshop and, while printing, it is only marginally faster.
-Donald
Donald,
Got the replacement Pro last Friday. I did my best with it, but I have yet to
accomplish anything that surpassed my regular Primera. I'm still under their
free 30 day money back thing, so I think I'm going to return it and just pick
up a regular Fargo, and use the difference for a TBC for my PAR. What gamma
settings have you been using in Studio? And what brightness and contrast
variations has it required for you to get good prints? I tried to check out
CYMK, but Photostyler apparently prints differently than Photoshop. Does
Photoshop have the ability to print to 300 x 600, or are you still going 300 x
300? When they advertised the Fargo, they didn't exactly mention that
Postscript support was only for the Mac. :^( Have you seen the output from the
new $500 Epson color printer?
Roger D.
>> Have you seen the output from the new $500 Epson color printer?<<
Not to eaves drop, but I was the service manger for an Epson authorized dealer
for three years. Don't buy these printers, no matter how good the quality.
These particular ink jets are engineered with a cotton overflow chamber. They
have a sensor that will shut down the printer requiring you to have it
serviced. This, coindently, happes to be the day or so after the warranty
expires. You dont want to know what a 1 inch cube of cotton costs!
my 2 cents worth
Dean,
Thanks for bringing that up. My wife is sitting here reading over my shoulder
and she mentioned this came up at school today. Just out of curiosity, how
much is one of those little printer diapers?
Roger D.
Rodger,
Sorry to hear about Postscript–could you just get and Appletalk card?
I am using the "regular" Fargo, but had hoped to pass it off to someone else
for a "Pro" until I read your message…
Photoshop has a CMYK output check box in the Print Dialog — from there it's
just the basic (stupid) Fargo driver. Photoshop has amazing tools for
calibrating printer output. However it seems pretty good straight out of the
box. CMYK output is definitely the way to go — dramatically better!!!
I leave my 3D Studio gamma settings in their "factory default" settings.
As for the Epson, our work is mostly "photo-quality" — The IRIS is the only
"ink-jet " that I have seen that comes close to dye-sub…
Donald