Digital Prints

consumable costs, depending on which printer and size of ink cartridge is used. ILFORD
provides these cost estimates for different media types and for many more sizes than the
ones I show.
Like high-ticket office equipment, wide-format printers can also be leased. For a few hundred
dollars a month, you can have the latest in technology, and then trade up when you
need to. (Of course, if you’re interested in the total cost of providing a printmaking service
to others, you must also add in basic business expenses like rent, waste, and overhead,
but that’s the subject of a different book.)
An Inkjet Summary
The days of wondering if inkjet would ever be good enough for high-quality digital output
are definitely behind us. Inkjets are helping artists and photographers around the world
produce work inexpensively, on-demand, and with great quality. The future for inkjet
printers is only going to get rosier—more colors, better and longer-lasting inks, and more
media choices. The best is yet to come.
How important is all this talk about inkjet printing equipment? It needs to be kept in perspective.
As Santa Fe, New Mexico-based, fine-art digital printmaker Lynn Lown explains,
“The printer is like a camera or a musical instrument; the operator is the key. A good printer
or artist can make interesting pictures with simple tools. They have the hardware under
control and can concentrate on ideas, images, and vision. Of course, that’s easy to say.”
Printing Packages
An inkjet printing option that’s aimed primarily at professional photographers or photo studios is the
turnkey printer package. Here are two systems that combine existing hardware and software into integrated
solutions:
Epson Gemini: Marketed as an alternative to sending out to traditional photo labs, the Gemini system
was in the middle of a complete update at the time of this writing. The original system included
two Epson Stylus Pro 5500 inkjet printers, a PC server, proprietary software, an uninterrupted power
supply, and a touch screen control for the server. An internal modem dialed up Epson and ordered its
own supplies. You couldn’t buy it; you leased it with a monthly charge depending on the amount of
supplies used.
The rumor was that the new and improved system would be based on the Epson 4000 printer and that
you could actually buy it in addition to leasing.
ILFORD Studio: ILFORD’s version of this concept is its Studio Professional Digital Output system,
which, at this time, is comprised of (1) either an Epson Stylus Pro 7600 or 9600 printer, (2) ILFORD
RIPSTAR Studio RIP (non-PostScript, RGB and CMYK) with built-in profiles for (3) ILFORD media,
which must be purchased separately, and (4) a complete installation and support package.
The system costs $5,399 (with Epson 7600) or $7,199 (with Epson 9600), and those prices include
installation, software, hardware maintenance training, and one year of unlimited technical support.
ILFORD also has leasing programs available. There is no fancy box or container as with the Epson
Gemini system; these are all separate items.
Chapter 6 ■ Selecting an Inkjet Printer 207