recently , I ’ve been awash in printers , calibrators , paper , and digital exposure gear wheel , most of which are line up up to be written about here in the coming weeks and months . I ’ve been recreate with some very nerveless thing : theLensbaby 3Gselective - focal point camera lens ; ColorVision’sPrintFix Pro 2.0(which I first write about from Photo Plus East in October ) , Epson’sStylus Professional 3800 ; and a slew of new third - company paper ( as part of a follow - up to the discussion about paint and dyestuff ink ) . These product are all suitable of care , but while I was setting up a new printer that arrived recently , I was so blown away by a few intelligent blueprint pick made by the manufacturer that it shot straight to the top of my list .
The printing machine is theDesignjet Z3100 , one of four Modern across-the-board - format photo printer from HP ( I have the “ smaller , ” 24 - inch interpretation ) . I was forced to set it up almost immediately after it go far , for the most part because the coffin - sized boxwood that it arrived in take up too much room in my garage , and needed to be incite into my office post - haste .
Having unpacked a fairish amount of large - data formatting gimmick over the years , I ’m well aware of the nuisance underlying in set one up . HP ’s promotional material engineer really believe it through , however , when designing the crateful the Z3100 came in . The printing machine was pile in reversal - fiat of its setup — the pedestal was on the top of the box as you opened it , and the pressman was stored upside down at the very bottom of the boxful . You put the stand together , mount it on the undercarriage of the pressman , and simply rotate the printer out of the corner , wheeling it to its finish . It took me far less time to get the printer out of the box and to my situation than it did to pack up the materials for recycling .
sensitive color calibrationAs taken as I was with the Z3100 ’s bent - up , I was even more impressed with the way HP has implemented a cardinal feature — color calibration . Embedded in the print carriage on each of the Z - series printers is a full Eye - One people of colour spectrophotometer fromGretagMacbeth / X - Rite . Having spent heap of hours graduate alternative papers for different printers , I was intrigued by HP ’s advance . I ’d hesitate to call the process fun , but it ’s a all-important ingredient to anyone serious about coloring reproduction . Companies like GretagMacbeth / X - Rite , ColorVision , and others have streamlined the unconscious process of skim the hundreds of publish color mend required to work up an exact ICC profile , but the idea of have the pressman do it for you automatically is quite ingenious .
After limit the printer up , and endure a few basic print through it with HP ’s media ( I really did mean only to ensure it worked before getting back to the LensBaby ) , I settle to give the standardization feature a endeavor . I load the Designjet Z3100 with Epson ’s Premium Luster photo paper . Then , I launched the HP Printer Utility on my Mac Pro , selected the Create and Install ICC Profile option , and was walked through the 30 - minute physical process of building a visibility for a paper that the printer knew nothing about . straight off after that , I create and installed a profile for Crane ’s Museo all right art paper . Within an hour I had two profiles set up on my Mac .
The process is truly reflexive : the Z3100 prints the test charts , keeps the paper within its clench , sucks it back in and the spectrophotometer scans the test patterns . Once that is complete , the Linux - ground oculus sinister running off the printer ’s 40 GB strong parkway goes through the calculations to work up an ICC visibility , and sends the profile back to the Mac , install it not only in its proper directory , but also automatically in the Custom Paper bill of fare in the Print dialog loge .
All that is coolheaded enough , but HP ’s applied scientist also actualise that photographer might be using multiple calculator to print from . So , when you print from another Mac on your net , the received Print dialog boxwood lets you experience that there are new profiles and newspaper character on the printer , and walks you through the ready process to sync your Mac with the new profiles . That ’s intelligent design in action ; a little feature that enhances your productivity without get in the mode .
I do n’t mean this to be a entirely qualified second for the printer — I’m still testing it , and have found a few issues here and there that need to be resolved before the final review — but Icantell you that nearly all the prints I have made with the Z3100 have been drop - all in gorgeous . With 12 inks , including multiple grey ink for enhanced - range blackened and white printing process , and the capability to add papers seamlessly on the fly ball , the Designjet Z3100 sit down very nicely in the free-enterprise landscape painting alongside Canon and Epson . Based on my former event , this is a printer to be reckoned with if you are a professional lensman or printing machine looking to print grown .
Now , back to the pile …
