Rangefinder Magazine
November 2005

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Output Options Ron Eggers
Speciality Printers, Meeting Specific Imaging Requirements

Most professional photographers already have digital printers installed. But most need more than one to get the things done that they need to get done. While requirements differ, besides an inkjet photo-realistic printer, most photographers also need a document printer. Some can also use other types of printers, such as high-speed production models or units that can generate specialty output.

Konica Minolta Magicolor 2430DL

Photo-realistic inkjets work fine for generating the occasional letter, proposal or contract, but they’re not ideal for producing large sets of documents, such as promotional materials, flyers or mailers. They’re too slow, and the inks they use are too expensive for production document work. That’s where laser printers come in. They’re ideal for quickly generating large numbers of documents that can include photos, graphics and text, very economically.

Color laser printers have been around for some two decades, but because of their price and size, they haven’t been a viable option for smaller studios. For those operations, laser printers have traditionally been monochromatic (black) printers.

Over the last few years, color laser printers have come down in price enough that most professional photographers can now afford them. At the same time, they’ve gotten considerably smaller. The Konica Minolta Magicolor 2430DL is a good example of the new generation of affordable color laser printers that don’t take up much more desk or counter space than an inkjet printer.

Primera LX800

The 2430DL comes with its own CPU and memory. It’s designed around an ARM9 200 MHz microprocessor and comes with 32MB of on-board memory, which can be upgraded to 544MB. It prints at a maximum resolution of 2400x600 dpi.

It has a start-up time of only 21 seconds from idle to ready, and a rated color print speed of five pages per minute. With its automatic ICC-based color matching and ICC profile support, the unit is very good at generating 24-bit photo-realistic color output.

When printing multiple copies of a full-color image, I was able to generate a full color photo roughly every 15 seconds. Such speed will be appreciated by anybody who might need large sets of color documents. Able to handle a use cycle of up to 35,000 prints per month, it’s designed for a production environment.

Shinko CHC-S1245

Its standard input tray can hold up to 200 sheets of paper. A 500-sheet paper input cassette is available as an option, so it’s possible to handle large print jobs without intervention. It was tested with a variety of paper stock, including inexpensive laser paper and card stock. The results were consistently good (as long as the card stock wasn’t too heavy) even when just using default printer settings.

An LCD panel on the front of the unit displays menu options, including YMCK toner levels and configuration options. It can be connected to both Windows and Mac systems as a USB device, and it supports Ethernet 10/100BaseTX connectivity.

There are a number of things the company has to do to make the installation process more user-friendly. Printed documentation, which comes in 11 languages, is marginal. The manual isn’t much more than a poor quick-start guide. The entire setup process consists of 15 illustrations with very little text explanation. Documentation in PDF format on the CD is better. It includes detailed information about the unit and its operations.

Driver installation was much more of a problem than it should have been. The default driver was the Spanish-language driver. Three of my attempts to uninstall it, and two more by Konica Minolta’s technical support, were unsuccessful.

Printed with Konika Minolta Magicolor 2430DL

The sixth time, after all traces of the first driver were removed, the correct installation worked. The company indicated that the problem should be corrected by the time this is in print. Once driver problems had been overcome, the unit operated flawlessly. It’s priced at $499.

Another specialty printer that photographers might want to consider is a high-speed dye-sublimation printer. Unlike inkjets, which generate screened output, dye-sub printers generate continuous-tone output, which is closer to con-ventional photographic output. That’s why 300dpi dye-sub output is roughly equivalent to 4800dpi inkjet out.

But in the past, while dye-sub prints looked very much like conventional prints, they didn’t feel like conventional prints. They were frequently thin and flimsy. There are now dye-sub machines that generate prints that look and feel like photographs.

The other thing that limited dye sublimation use in production environments was speed. With dye subs, each print requires three or four passes, depending upon the model. That could take quite some time per print.

A unit that can print images that have the look and feel of true photographs and is extremely fast is the Shinko CHC-S1245, marketed in the U.S. by Kanematsu. The CHC-S1245, which has a 34MB memory buffer, is being targeted at portrait studios and event photographers. It’s not particularly large in size, but it is quite heavy, so it’s not a unit you’d want to move around a lot.

Using roll media, it can deliver 8x10-inch borderless 300dpi prints in just 30 seconds, at around $1.25 each. Up to 280 prints can be produced per roll. A built-in cutter automatically trims the prints to the correct size. Besides 8x10 inches, it can also generate cut 5x8-inch prints.

One of the things people always disliked about roll media was that the prints that came out tended to curl quite a bit. While there’s a slight curve to the final prints, there’s very little curl with the Shinko. One reason for that is the special coating that’s applied as the print goes through the final sequence. It protects the image and straightens out the roll media.

The CHC-S1245 is ideal for high-volume production environments where speed is essential. As one user put it, with this unit, it’s possible to hand a customer the print at the same time he gets his change on the purchase. Such speed can have a direct impact on earning potentials. Multiple units can easily be daisy chained to increase production capabilities, and profits, even further.

Printed with Shinko CHC-S1245

Setup was easy. It didn’t take much to install the roll media and dye-sub ribbon. The software driver loaded just as easily. The unit supports USB 2.0 connectivity. The first few prints that came off of the unit using default settings were a little too high contrast. But, as with most professional printers, things like brightness and contrast can be adjusted directly in the driver.

My personal preference was to make the appropriate adjustments in Photoshop and then send the images out to print. The downside was that the image wouldn’t print correctly with other printers, so it’s a good idea to save the image to a separate file specifically for that printer. For high-volume production work, making the changes in the printer driver works well enough.

It always amazes me that companies that do so well with their equipment can do so poorly with its documentation. A lot of that is obviously due to the fact that documentation is frequently translated. But somewhere in the quality-control process, a native English speaker should be brought in to go over the documentation.

That first edition of the operation manual for the S1245 was loaded with errors, to the point that, if I hadn’t seen the equipment before reading the documentation, I might have lost confidence in the unit. Fortunately, I played with the equipment before reading the documentation. The CHC-S1245, which has a street price of $3995, is certainly a good option for any smaller professional operation requiring a steady stream of photo-realistic output.

There are a whole host of specialty printers on the market. One that I’ve found to be useful is Primera’s LX800 label printer. Like the Shinko, the LX800 uses roll media, but unlike that unit, or Primera’s earlier decal printers, which were dye sub models, this unit utilizes inkjet technology.

The LX800 can print 24-bit color labels in resolutions up to 4800x1200 dpi. Using the LX800, it’s possible to generate anything from standard text labels to rich color labels with a combination of images, graphics and text. Five different print resolutions make it possible to select the combination of print quality and speed that fits any specific requirement.

Pressure-sensitive roll media is available in sizes of 1.5 to 8.25 inches. The maximum print length is 24 inches, making it possible to create self-adhesive banners. A variety of media is available, including highly water-resistant, high-gloss, semi-gloss and matte finishes. With the LX800, it’s also possible to print on tags, synthetics, continuous forms, transparent polyesters and low-tack adhesive materials.

Setup was relatively easy. The roll media is slipped on a shaft and secured into place by a locking mechanism. I had a little problem locking it into correct position, so the media was being pulled through askew for the first few prints. Once I remounted the roll correctly, the media fed through without a problem.

Printed with Primera LX800

The Premier was designed for heavy-duty production work. Servicing and maintenance is very easy. It takes no more time to switch out the inks on the LX800 than it does with any inkjet.

It is a USB 2.0 device that comes with bundled Windows and Mac software, NiceLabel SE Primera Edition and a lim-ited version of NiceLabel’s full-functioning Pro version, which is available as an upgrade for $495. The upgraded installation CD comes with NiceLabel Express as well as Pro, Suite, Networking and Windows CD editions. A USB hardware key (dongle), which ships with the higher- end version, is required to run the program.

The Pro version is a full-function layout program that can be used to create output for any connected printer. It’s easy to use, but quite powerful, particularly for production work. It includes full layout capabilities, multi-format barcode support and the ability to integrate label production with a database, making it possible to produce labels for complete mailing lists.

Anybody who needs to produce a large number of personalized labels should consider upgrading. However, be sure to uninstall the SE edition before installing the Pro version. According to Primera tech support, when the two versions are installed there could be conflicts.

Priced at $2495, the Primera LX800 Color Label Printer might not be a unit that’s considered essential at first, but you’ll quickly come to rely on it to produce a variety of label output.

The three models covered here are just a few of the numerous specialty printers on the market. Others will be covered in the “Output Options” column in the months ahead.