Archive for the 'Printers' category

I had been advising to use PDF Creator to produce PDF files from any program under Windows. It appears that the product does not work with Vista. Even worse, sometimes, it seems that its mere installation is breaking havoc in all Vista printing and when it happens, it may be difficult to uninstall.

Just wait for a future new version that would solve the issue.

In the spotlight: Sony Alpha 900 Canon EOS 5D Mk II Nikon D700 FX Download Nero for free

Adobe has been observing the desktop application market and specifically seen Google challenging Microsoft with its online Google desktop suite (spreadsheet, text processor, agenda, etc.). They determined that they want to go the same way in order to ensure a bright future for the Photoshop line.

Currently, Adobe has already split its market niche between entry-level Photoshop Elements and high-level PhotoShop CS suite. From what has been told this week, they wish to go one step further by introducing online version of their image editing tools. It should be free even if limited to a subset of functions.

It is definitely interesting. Do not expect that to translate into free professional-level tools (no free CS4 suite). However it means that, depending on your needs, you will be able to choose from the widest possible spectrum:

• Free online
• Low cost (PS Elements)
• Pro-grade (PS CS suite)

The user (you and me) get maximum choice, the software company (Adobe) covers all bases and reduces the risk of being out-sold from the lower level and provides a consistent upgrade path from $0 to $1000 products. This is the way technology innovation should be used by companies willing to protect their market while serving user needs.

Others, please, take notice.

PS: You should also notice that Adobe is already ben starting this kind of move in relation with video edition announcing Remix, an online video mixing/remixing tool.

PPS: According to Monkey Bites, it would be launched within 6 months and supported by ads.

Again, I come back to the issue of free fonts of great quality. DaFont holds links to hundreds of character fonts readily downlodable for both Mac and PC. Usually, this leads to a bunch of crap fonts. Here, the top 100 list is really of impressive quality. Waltograph is copying Walt Disney’s signature, Evanescence is both sophisticated and elegant, Loki Cola will remind you of some cola brand, Shanghai is the archetypical Chinese font, and all the others are really pleasant.

Now, what is often left aside in most font libraries is the presence (or lack) of accented letters. DaFont tells you clearly which ones have those internationally-needed letters and adds also the Euro sign to it.

It’s pleasant to merely go sight-seeing.

Yes! If you want to get top photo quality, an inkjet printer is the best solution. But the cost is high. To reduce it, look at the color laser solution. Most entry-level printers are sold under 300$ and the operating costs are tremendously lower than those of an inkjet (toners are more expensive than liquid ink cartridges, but they routinely print several thousand pages). Moreover, they are FAST (several pages per minute instead of several minutes per page).

However, the market is maturing a lot and new models are arriving. The proof? Look at the latest color laser printers comparison from Tom’s Hardware and check the list of tested printers.

• HP Color LaserJet 2600n (already tested in November 2005 here)
• HP Color LaserJet 3600
• Magicolor 5430DL
• Lexmark C522n

It is nice to see that one-pass color laser printers become more and more affordable leading to even faster (more silent) printers than was available a year ago.

The conclusion has nothing new for the observer: Lexmark is disappointing, Minolta is bulky (despite or because it is very complete), old HP 2600n has printing cost too high for a large use. The newest HP Color LaserJet 3600 printer is -not surprisingly- the best offer: An excellent compromise like HP has always been providing for blak and white laser printers.

In the spotlight: Sony Alpha 900 Canon EOS 5D Mk II Nikon D700 FX Download Nero for free

After posting previously about 25 top quality fonts, I also got a link to an interesting web site providing a LOT of free fonts. It does not mean that they are all useful, interesting or good-looking, but you have some impressive choice: 13,000+ fonts in one search engine.

SearchFreeFonts

If you ever dreamed of printing images in much larger size than what your personal printer allows (let’s say 3′ by 6′), you have either to buy a very expensive printer or use a very expensive photo printing service. You see the common words here: very expensive.

The Rasterbator creates huge, rasterized images from any picture. Upload an image, print the resulting multi-page pdf file and assemble the pages into extremely cool-looking poster up to 20 meters in size.

The quality is only limited by your ability to correctly assemble the pages.

Nota bene: It’s much better if your printer uses all the surface of the paper and does not leave a white border.

Some people wish they could cover their precious iPod nano with a decorated paper. The first solution is merely to go and buy to Sector29. But, I really think that $19,95 is a little too much for a piece of colored and folded paper.

The solution? Do it yourself without spending so much. Use the template available on WikiHow. As for a nice confection dress, the template will allow to draw the piece of paper or cardboard to the exact dimensions and to cover precisely your iPod nano. You don’t need to limit yourself to plain white paper. It’s about time your imagination kick in with your photos and your drawing talent.

Feel free to show your trials here.

In the rush for higher resolution images, HAL9000 Iconos has a significant advance over the competition with its 8600 mega-pixel image.

They obtained this enormous image by assembling it from 1145 individual photos of about 12 Mega-Pixel each.

The result is on the Italian web site of HaltaDefinizione.com and it is impressive. You can also get a printed poster copy of the image, if you want to.

Plenty of web sites try to attract you with free fonts (or other free items) and fail to deliver this. If you are lucky you will find a couple of ugly (but still free) fonts. Now, it is quite exceptional to find true top-quality fonts on the web. Vitaly Friedman just did this on his notebook with his 25 Best Free Quality Fonts.

According to my tastes, one of the best is Cardo. Have a look.

Version 1.0.5 fixes a bug around wrongly displaying the number of continuous shots which can be taken and adds a semi-gloss paper option for direct printing (on PIXMA Pro9000 and other PictBridge-compatible printers).

Download the new firmware, copy it on a memory card and the Canon EOS 30D will update itself on startup.

Who was not hurt by the weird colors of a digital print? Often, the solution is to use the right color profile from the printer manufacturer (depending on paper, ink, printer, etc.). But it is not always enough. If you have an old printer, you may not find the color profiles; If you use generic inks, there may be no adequate color profile. Worse, for some applications like Black & White printing, the slighest color change is perceived by even the less technical observer.

There is another solution. It can be applied by anybody, provided that you bring some patience: Black and white printer profiling (of a sort).

This is the product offering of an American company (TreasureKnit). You can ask them to knit a plaid, or the surface of a pillow or a blanket starting from the photographic image that you would provide. Even better than the large format prints, here comes tailor-made tapestry.

I doubt it will always produce fine art of the best taste but we can now print our photos on nearly any kind of surface.

Notice: Deliveries are only possible to the United States of Amercia and Canada, for the time being.