shrug-l: RIPs

[Sykes, John]

Ok, now I did a little on-line research on the PS vs. non-PS versions of the
HP large-format printers, which brought me to the subject of RIPs (raster
image processors).  The discussion went something like this.  Large format
plotters need some help, because of their image size, to "smooth" jaggies on
fonts and to "blend" colors on images, such as photos (including aerial
photos).  The hardware/software that accomplishes this is called a RIP.

PostScript is the most common RIP, however, the hardware versions usually
pre-installed in your printer are excruciatingly slow compared to stand-alone
software RIPs.  However, the tab for software RIPs can run anywhere from $3 -
7k, so there is a trade-off (plus many of the RIP software vendors are very
small companies, without a great deal of solvency).  So, you can either go
without a RIP (e.g., an HP 5500), go with a hardware RIP (e.g., an HP5500ps)
or go with the former (HP5500) and buy a software RIP.

Any suggestions, or is this all new territory for y'all, the same as it is
for me????

-- John

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