DIMA® Digital Printer Shoot-Out entries were produced from files created by color experts at Digital Attributes, Ellijay, Ga. Participants were asked to provide specific information pertaining to the equipment used (printer, RIP), the consumables used (output media, ink/toner/dye), and the production timing. A panel of expert judges voted on the entries based on the overall quality of the digital print and the quality of the color. The panel of judges included well-respected names in the industry: Richard Lerner, RSL Digital Consultants; Rick Lucas, Digital Attributes/Lucas Imaging; and Phil Nelson, Phil Nelson Imaging LLC.
Judging for the event took place at GTI Graphic Technology Inc., Newburgh, N.Y., which donated the space and a 5,000 Kelvin lighting environment.
An X-Rite Color Checker with known values was embedded into the DIMA Target File, which was measured by X-Rite Color Services to determine the delta E of the actual value.
Qualitative criteria also judged included neutral gray balance reproduction, saturation, shadow depth and quality, overall tonality and detail, highlights and specular highlights, flesh tones, hue shift, and text.
RA-4 Digital Printer, 13 inches to 29 inches wide |
Polielettronica – LaserLab 50-20" |
POLI-PRO-USA Inc., Hillsboro, Ore. |
RA-4 Digital Printer, 30 inches to 49 inches wide |
Polielettronica – LaserLab 76-30" |
POLI-PRO-USA Inc., Hillsboro, Ore. |
RA-4 Digital Printer, 50 inches wide or larger |
Polielettronica – LaserLab 127-50" |
POLI-PRO-USA Inc., Hillsboro, Ore. |
RA-4 Digital Printer, Digital Minilab, 12 inches maximum |
QSS-3702HD |
Noritsu Koki Co. Ltd., Wakayama, Japan |
RA-4 Digital Printer, Digital Minilab, 8 inches maximum |
DL1210 |
Shanghai Doli Photographic Equipment Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China |
RA-4 Digital Printer, Industrial High-Speed |
4-by-6-inches |
Europa 15 |
Express Imaging Systems, LLC, Seattle, Wash. |
Dry Production Printers, |
Electrophotographic (20-40 ppm) |
Xerox DocuColor 242 Digital Color Printer |
Xerox Corp., Webster, N.Y. |
Electrophotographic (41-70 ppm) |
Xerox 700 Digital Color Press |
Xerox Corp., Webster, N.Y. |
Electrophotographic (71+ ppm) |
Xerox iGen4 Press |
Xerox Corp., Webster, N.Y. |
Dry Production Printers, Dry Minilab |
HP Photosmart ML1000 Minilab Printer |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Inkjet, 50 inches wide or larger |
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF9100 |
Canon U.S.A. Inc., Lake Success, N.Y. |
Inkjet, 36 inches to 49 inches wide |
Epson Stylus Pro 9900 |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
Inkjet, 18 inches to 35 inches wide |
Epson Stylus Pro 7900 |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
Inkjet, 9 inches to 17 inches wide |
Epson Stylus Pro 4880 |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
Inkjet, 8.5 inches wide or less – $200 or more |
HP Photosmart C8180 All-in-One |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Inkjet, 8.5 inches wide or less – $100-$199 |
HP Photosmart D7560 Printer |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Inkjet, 8.5 inches wide or less – $99 or less |
HP Photosmart D5460 Printer |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Inkjet, 5-by-7- inches or less |
HP Photosmart A636 Compact Photo Printer |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Dye Sublimation, 4-by-6-inch cut sheet |
HiTi P110S |
HiTi Digital Inc., Taipei City, Taiwan |
Dye Sublimation, 5-to-6-inch roll |
DNP DS-40 |
DNP Photo Imaging America Corp., San Marcos, Texas |
Dye Sublimation, 8-inch roll |
DNP DS-80 |
DNP Photo Imaging America Corp., San Marcos, Texas |
Media, 4-by-6-inches |
Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285 GSM |
Hahnemühle, Woodstock, Ill. |
Media, 8.5-by-11-inches |
Museo Silver Rag |
Museo, South Hadley, Mass. |
Media, 13-by-19-inch sheet or 13-inch roll |
Epson Premium Semigloss (250) |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
Media, 24 inches wide or larger |
Tetenal spectra jet Photo Silk Paper 250 G |
TETENAL AG & Co. KG, Norderstedt, Germany |
Media, Matte Only |
Magiclée Verona 250 HD |
Magiclée, South Hadley, Mass. |
Ink, less than 20-inch printer |
Epson UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
Ink, 20-inch or larger printer |
Epson UltraChrome HDR |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
RIP, less than 20-inch printer |
ColorBurst RIP |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
RIP, 20-inch or larger printer |
ColorBurst RIP |
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va. |
Black and White, Best B&W with grayscale inks |
Canon PIXMA MP980 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer with Photo Paper Pro Platinum and ChromaLife 100+ Ink |
Canon U.S.A. Inc., Lake Success, N.Y. |
Black and White, Best B&W with a color printer |
Pictorico GEKKO Green using the Epson Stylus Photo R2400 |
Mitsubishi Imaging, (MPM) Inc., Rye, N.Y. |
Black and White, Best Creative B&W |
HP Designjet Z6100 Photo Printer, 42”, HP Baryte Satin Art Paper and HP 91 Vivera Pigment Inks |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Creative Application, Textile |
HP Durable Banner with DuPont™ Tyvek® on HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer |
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. |
Creative Application, Paper |
Fuji Flex paper using the Chromira 5x ProLab |
ZBE Inc., Carpinteria, Calif. |
Creative Application, Alternative Substrate |
Xerox PhotoPix Image Solutions Paper |
Xerox Corp., Webster, N.Y. |