Xref: utzoo comp.graphics:16848 rec.photo:19403 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!xn.ll.mit.edu!xn!tonyb From: tonyb@titania.juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Tony Berke) Newsgroups: comp.graphics,rec.photo Subject: Re: Digital Photography Message-ID: Date: 26 Mar 91 00:53:01 GMT References: <1991Mar22.234502.4783@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Sender: usenet@xn.ll.mit.edu Organization: M.I.T. Lincoln Lab - Group 43 Lines: 60 In-Reply-To: phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu's message of Fri, 22 Mar 1991 23:45:02 GMT The major thing you didn't mention is how big your budget is. I've worked with Electronic Pre-Press systems that cost several million dollars that would probably suit you just fine. (Most big-budget ads and many magazine photos you see are produced/tweaked from a combination of hand-drawn art, medium-to- large format positive photographic material, and computer-generated text and lines). Assuming you have at least a couple of grand to blow, I can suggest a couple of vendors -- try Polaroid for slide scanners, and, more interestingly, output devices. The cheapest (from a hardware standpoint) way to get your processed images back onto paper (assuming you want to) is to get it back onto film and blow it up conventionally. Ouput devices: The Canon color photocopy machine has OK ouput but costs mucho $$$. It's advantage is that it also gives you the scanning end of things. Polaroid has a couple of new versions of their 'Palette' product that sound pretty cool, and can give you something like 2400 pixels per line. Scitex corp just bought out a firm I used to work for, Iris Graphics. Iris' product is this amazing full-color ink-jet printer that uses some trick physics to get 5-6 bits of intensity control for each of 4 colors (CMYK) at 300DPI. Some local dithering that is not particularly noticable gives a pretty good imitation of 8-bits-per-pixel. The wild thing is that these printers are available all the way up to E-sized (32x40 INCHES!!) The big ones cost $100,000+, but I think they are introducing one that makes 11x17's for $30k. The consumables cost for the machine is practically nothing (paper). Input Devices: Try Polaroid. I believe the Palette products are part of a mid-priced Desk- Top Publishing line that focuses on corporate presentation graphics, and I'm pretty sure that they have an 'affordable' scanner as part of it. Their idea is that you use their instant slide film to take the pictures, scan them in, mess with them, and shoot the stuff back out onto more of their instant slide film for presentation to awe-struck corporate types. Polaroid had a prototype electronic camera years ago, but their marketing people are so whimpy that they have never marketed it -- they seem determined to make the exact same mistake as Ampex did with the VCR. Bozos!!! If you have $30,000 to spend on a scanner as well, Scitex has something called the SmartScanner, which will give you up to 8000 pixels/line, regardless of the size of the original (I think it will scann up to 4x5 inches, but I'm not sure). I've been told that 8000 pixels is better than the film-grain of Ektachrome 50 in 35mm format, so you should be safe. But bring a really big disk-drive to the party. I don't know if these products are way out of line with what you had in mind, but the're all I know about. I've just run into these products while doing software consulting work for the three companies whose products I mentioned (except Cannon). I'm not a professional EPPS person, so please don't take these comments as gospel. Tony Berke (email: tonyb@juliet.ll.mit.edu)