Epson started as watch making company Seiko Epson Corporation, Japan. Epson was established in 1961 to manufacture precision parts for Seiko watches, back then it was called Shinsu Precision Manufacturing Company.
Epson started as watch making company Seiko Epson Corporation, Japan. Epson was established in 1961 to manufacture precision parts for Seiko watches, back then it was called Shinsu Precision Manufacturing Company.
Epson’s first foray into the printing and imaging business was the Olympics of 1964 held in Tokyo. The company was awarded a contract to develop a precision timer for the Games. The printer they developed for the Olympics - EP101 is also, where Epson derives its name! It was one of the first printers for electronic calculators to hit the commercial market. It was the beginning of Epson’s journey in the printing and imaging business.
The TX-80, Epson’s first dot matrix printer hit the market in 1978, then in 1984 came the SQ 2000 it’s first inkjet printer. The TM 930 Epson’s pc-pos package printer launched in 1990 created a new market in the printing business. Epson gave a number of first printers to the world among which is Epson stylus 800- an inkjet printer equipped with micro peizo technology launched in March 1993, and then the Epson Stylus Color in May 1994 was the world’s first 720 dpi color inkjet printer.
September 1998 saw the launch of TM-H5000 its first hybrid printer which featured fast quiet printing and copy functionality.
Epson’s Technological Breakthrough
The Ultrachrome K3 Ink
The Epson UltraChrome K3 Ink is a high-density resin coated pigment ink. It comes in two types Black & White and Color. It has a wide color gamut for both types. The black palette consists of three shades of black- Black, light black and light light black. The color palette consists of the standard cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta and yellow. Oh and it has two user exchangeable black ink modes- photo and matte!
Now you will wonder what is so special about Ultrachrome K3. A simple comparison between the traditional toner manufacturing process and the ultrachrome K3 process will answer the question - traditional toners were manufactured by grinding the toner particles mechanically to the smallest possible particle size that can be achieved mechanically; now the major disadvantage here is the energy and hence cost. You would wonder how energy comes into picture. The process being mechanical and done under pressure requires considerable amount of energy and the smaller the particle size the more energy required and energy is expensive!
The second disadvantage is that the particle size is not uniform and cannot be controlled, again because the process is mechanical put simply a grinding process!
Both of the above disadvantages are overcome in the Ultrachrome K3 manufacturing process. The process is chemical process requiring negligible energy. The resin is placed in a water-based environment where the particles are allowed to grow in a controlled environment. Once the particles have achieved the desired size, they are removed from the environment and processed to give the Ultrachrome K3 ink! Sounds simple right? However, the process is not as simple as it sounds!
The Customer’s Advantages:
Energy and cost conservation are the Epson’s advantages; what benefits do the customers get. At the end of the day, the customers have to be very satisfied, if they are going to buy “the system”.
8-Color Ink System
* High Density pigments for an extremely wide color gamut
* Professional print permanence ratings for truly sellable quality prints
* High-gloss Microcrystal Encapsulation Technology for reduced gloss differential
* Superior scratch resistance from improved pigment and resin chemistry
* Color is stable immediately after printing - no short term color shifting
Three-Level Black Ink Technology
* Simultaneously uses Black, Light Black, and Light Light Black inks
* Significantly improves the printers gray balance
* Impressive midtones and highlights for a smoother tonal range
Two User-Exchangeable Black Ink Modes
Two specific black ink modes - Photo Black or Matte Black
Optimizes black ink density for various media types dramatically improving the final print quality
It is goes without saying that Epson like all other top brands in the market too encourages its customers to use only original Epson ink and Epson media to achieve best results. It claims that the ink and media are manufactured to work hand in hand to achieve the best results as compared to their competitors!
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Kamis, 14 Juli 2011
Jumat, 27 Mei 2011
Basics of RGB and CMYK for ink jet printing at home
Knowing and understanding the basics of RGB versus CMYK color space will help when it comes to at home ink jet printing. Getting the right print out starts with knowing what color space your image is made of.
In the world of home ink jet color printing, there is some confusion concerning CMYK color and RGB color. Many photo enthusiasts don't realize what kind of color space their digital cameras output and are confused when it comes to printing images off of their home ink jet printers. They hit print and wonder why the printed image looks different from what they see on their monitor.
CMYK is the color description representing printed material, short for the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Mixing these 4 colors together in different amounts give you the millions of colors that reproduce the colors in printed material. These are actual inks used in printing the images you see in color magazines and books. RGB is the color description for images viewed on your computer monitors, short for Red, Green, and Blue. RGB color is actually light, and mixing different levels of these light colors
creates the millions of colors that come from your computer monitor. All websites and nearly everything you see on your computer monitor is RGB unless the images have been converted to the CMYK color space.
When you print your images on your ink jet printer from your computer, your printer prints the image using CMYK inks. Viewing your image in RGB and then printing it out in CMYK may not yield the results you want. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop will convert your image from RGB to CMYK or vice versa. Some printers require the image to be CMYK before you can print the image correctly. Some printers don't print the image correctly if the image being printed is in RGB space.
A good reason for printing with a CMYK image is to see your image in CMYK color before printing. When an image is converted to CMYK from RGB, there may be some color changes that are noticeable in the image. The reason for this is because many colors in RGB cannot be reproduced using CMYK inks. That is why it is always a good idea to convert your image to a CMYK color space before printing. You could notice significant color changes to your image, especially in the very intense color areas of your image. Some of these intense color areas may appear less intense or very dull once converted. With photo editing software, you can go in and fix these trouble color areas to your liking.
Many ink jet printers on the market today actually print directly from an RGB color image. And converting the image to CMYK may cause it to print incorrectly. You will need to determine what color space your ink jet printer supports. The packaged software usually will give you a hint regarding color spaces. If there is no option to convert the color space from RGB to CMYK, most likely, the printer will print directly from an RGB color source. Usually, the higher end ink jet printers deal with the CMYK color space as consumer level enthusiasts don't even know these color spaces exist. New higher end ink jet printers, however, are now printing directly from the RGB color space as there is a wider spectrum of color that can be reproduced in RGB compared to CMYK color.
If you visit the website, Instantimagers.com, the 'Framers' and 'DVD Cover & Disc Art' designs are provided in both RGB and CMYK color spaces. Comparing the RGB and CMYK images side by side, you'll notice there are color differences. This is due to some RGB colors not being available as a CMYK converted color. Both versions are provided because not all printers are alike. Some tend to print better with one color space. Many of CMYK printed designs have been manipulated further after conversion to match more closely the colors from the RGB color space as many of the colors in some designs did not covert seamlessly.
If all this seems confusing, not to worry. The key thing to remember is to print using RGB color if your printer and software support it. Let the software and the printer worry about getting the colors right. If you are more experienced with photo color correction and want more control over the color of the image, print in CMYK. You'll actually be manipulating and printing the image in the color space your ink jet printer's inks are using. You will be able to see the limits of the CMYK printing color spectrum right on your monitor. Getting color right with RGB and CMYK is totally different from calibrating your printer to match the colors on your monitor. That is actually the second step in getting the best color out of your prints. Understanding the difference between RGB and CMYK is the first step in getting the best print outs on your home ink jet printer.
In the world of home ink jet color printing, there is some confusion concerning CMYK color and RGB color. Many photo enthusiasts don't realize what kind of color space their digital cameras output and are confused when it comes to printing images off of their home ink jet printers. They hit print and wonder why the printed image looks different from what they see on their monitor.
CMYK is the color description representing printed material, short for the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Mixing these 4 colors together in different amounts give you the millions of colors that reproduce the colors in printed material. These are actual inks used in printing the images you see in color magazines and books. RGB is the color description for images viewed on your computer monitors, short for Red, Green, and Blue. RGB color is actually light, and mixing different levels of these light colors
creates the millions of colors that come from your computer monitor. All websites and nearly everything you see on your computer monitor is RGB unless the images have been converted to the CMYK color space.
When you print your images on your ink jet printer from your computer, your printer prints the image using CMYK inks. Viewing your image in RGB and then printing it out in CMYK may not yield the results you want. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop will convert your image from RGB to CMYK or vice versa. Some printers require the image to be CMYK before you can print the image correctly. Some printers don't print the image correctly if the image being printed is in RGB space.
A good reason for printing with a CMYK image is to see your image in CMYK color before printing. When an image is converted to CMYK from RGB, there may be some color changes that are noticeable in the image. The reason for this is because many colors in RGB cannot be reproduced using CMYK inks. That is why it is always a good idea to convert your image to a CMYK color space before printing. You could notice significant color changes to your image, especially in the very intense color areas of your image. Some of these intense color areas may appear less intense or very dull once converted. With photo editing software, you can go in and fix these trouble color areas to your liking.
Many ink jet printers on the market today actually print directly from an RGB color image. And converting the image to CMYK may cause it to print incorrectly. You will need to determine what color space your ink jet printer supports. The packaged software usually will give you a hint regarding color spaces. If there is no option to convert the color space from RGB to CMYK, most likely, the printer will print directly from an RGB color source. Usually, the higher end ink jet printers deal with the CMYK color space as consumer level enthusiasts don't even know these color spaces exist. New higher end ink jet printers, however, are now printing directly from the RGB color space as there is a wider spectrum of color that can be reproduced in RGB compared to CMYK color.
If you visit the website, Instantimagers.com, the 'Framers' and 'DVD Cover & Disc Art' designs are provided in both RGB and CMYK color spaces. Comparing the RGB and CMYK images side by side, you'll notice there are color differences. This is due to some RGB colors not being available as a CMYK converted color. Both versions are provided because not all printers are alike. Some tend to print better with one color space. Many of CMYK printed designs have been manipulated further after conversion to match more closely the colors from the RGB color space as many of the colors in some designs did not covert seamlessly.
If all this seems confusing, not to worry. The key thing to remember is to print using RGB color if your printer and software support it. Let the software and the printer worry about getting the colors right. If you are more experienced with photo color correction and want more control over the color of the image, print in CMYK. You'll actually be manipulating and printing the image in the color space your ink jet printer's inks are using. You will be able to see the limits of the CMYK printing color spectrum right on your monitor. Getting color right with RGB and CMYK is totally different from calibrating your printer to match the colors on your monitor. That is actually the second step in getting the best color out of your prints. Understanding the difference between RGB and CMYK is the first step in getting the best print outs on your home ink jet printer.
