Goleta DeskTop Publishing User Group
Meeting Information

January 4 -- Printing Pictures

The process of printing images sounds so simple (and the manufacturer's ads contribute to that expectation) -- just get an image, modify it as needed, and print it. But when you actually try to do it, all sorts of questions pop up.

Questions like "Which printer is the best?", "What paper is the best?", "Why does the print look good at my desk but look green in the sunlight?".

Tom will bring his Epson 2000P printer, and I will bring my Epson 1200 with bulk ink system, as well as the ColorVision calibration package and a variety of paper. We will show and discuss the issues of getting the color you want, longevity of the prints, and cost.

The two major costs of printing photos is the cost of the paper and the cost of the ink cartridges. Lots of each can be wasted diddling the brightness, saturation, contrast, and color curves while trying to get the look you want. Calibration systems help reduce the wastage of time, materials, and money.

Another way to reduce cost is to buy ink in bulk -- six 4-ounce bottles of ink cost about as much as one 5-color cartridge. The downside is filling the cartridge, unless, that is, you use a "continuous ink system". This is merely a rack to hold the ink bottles and tubing that connects the bottles to the cartridges. I will be bringing the one made by MIS Associates (aka www.inksupply.com).

There is no substitute for good paper -- use anything but and you will find the colors look dull and often there will also be a color cast. We will demonstrate just how much difference there is in color rendition for several popular papers, and how the calibration system helps alleviate the color cast problem but even it cannot overcome the lack of sparkle of inappropriate paper.

Please send email to gdtpug@troutcom.com with suggestions for topics you are interested in seeing covered. Or even better, volunteer to give a presentation!

The Goleta DeskTop Publishing Users Group is a SIG (Special Interest Group) of the Santa Barbara PC Users Group. We are not platform specific: some members have PCs, some have Macs, some have both. Linux and other systems are sprinkled in as well for good measure. We focus on the issues of publishing in all forms, be it on paper, web, CD-ROM, or some other medium.