RIP for film positives on Epson 7880 / mac

I have purchased an Epson 7880 to print wide format film positives for screen printing. Prior to this we were using a Xante screenwriter but had the usual laser printer problems as well as size limitations.
I need is a RIP that will work with this printer on a Mac and printing mainly from Illustrator. A sample printed sheet of the Zeta II film says it is printed using the 7880 but using Wasatch softRIP which is not mac compatible.
I have a few films here like Accufast and Zeta II but have not been able to get any black density and obviously no resolution since the epson is not a postscript printer. I have tried every possible media setting but since they are all paper, the films look terrible. Any ideas for a RIP that would fill me needs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Xitron??

Xitron makes a great rip . . . Can be PC or MAC.

Or any Harlequin Based MAC RIP . . .

Awsome screening for screen printers . . .

 

Thanks

I didnt have much luck with a RIP for my mac. The people who sell me my film media suggested I buy the wasatch softrip and set up RIP server. I just put an old Dell on a cart next to the printer, installed the RIP and stuffed a wireless card in it. I had one of my tech buddies come in and set it up and I have to say it was much easier than I thought it would be. The IP for the RIP shows up in my mac's printer list and with a little adjustment to the mono ink settings, the films are sharp and dark as can be. I have done endless research on printing quality films with an Epson inkjet and can say this is the best way.

 

Epson for Screen printing

Glad to see you have got it figured out. What resolution are you imaging on the Epson at? What LPI for the screens?

thanks

 

I'm printing at 55 lpi and 1440x1440

Wasatch said to set the RIP to 12.5 pl drops and adjust the drying time accordingly but I found 15 pl gave better opacity with just a bit more dry time.

 

Epson

Great Info. Many thanks.

jean

 

Harlequin based software and demo online at http://www.ripdownloads.com. Based on Harlequin RIP software but allows you to test output on the printer before purchase.

 

Shiraz RIP for Mac

One of the best RIPs out there for Mac is the Shiraz RIP. I've used it and prefer it over PhotoPrint. The output is much better.

If you need more information about the RIP you can find it here:
http://www.**************/Shiraz_Postscript_RIP_s/79.htm

 

Shark969 Hi, when making positive films how do you make black text just black text and not 4 colours, its 100% black in illustrator but prints 4 colours in my RIP, can you separate the actual files in illustrator do you know, so I can send 4 separate files to print !!!

Thanks gary

 

Your RIP would control the separations and is responsible for accurately separating out CMYK+SpotColors to the appropriate channel. If you want to output to films using just black ink then your RIP needs to make the adjustment to transfer C to black, M to black, etc.

http://www.ripdownloads.com - Harlequin RIP Demo

 

thanks for the info but my RIP is for large format printing, I can set it up for just to print black for all channels, but when I print black text it prints a tint of all colours to produce black, is there away I can separate each colour/channel so I get 4 artwork files to send to the rip !!!!

Gary

 

I should clarify a few things here:
I am assuming that you are certain the text you are printing is created using 100% Black (K) not a representation of 100% black in the design app (60% C, 43% Y, etc.) or created in RGB format.

If you are certain your text is created properly but you are still getting text printing out with a combination of inks (C, M, Y, K) and not just K then your RIP software is what is causing the issue. It is up to the RIP to control and screen the file and it is also up to the RIP to convert the color within the job to the appropriate channels so if your design file uses text that is 100% black but the RIP is creating a composite of C, M, Y, K to make just K then your RIP is the issue. Best to start narrowing down the issue to one piece of software or hardware. Check your design file and go from there.

 

OK thanks for your help, it looks like to make 100% magenta, the magenta colour isnt strong enough so it uses 100% magenta and small % of yellow to make it look like True magenta, so this is what I get when trying to separate the files, this is why I want to make 4 separation files form Illustrator, because when I print these through a office laser printer (colour separation) its fine so I know its my RIP/Printer causing the problem, so if I separate them first then send all the files separate it will only print what it see's
again thanks for your input

Gary

 

/Users/garybarker/Desktop/screen print test.pdf

will this work to show the artwork on this post !!!!!

 

artwork test file example

artwork test file example

 

A ha thats how you do it