# What is the difference between PrintPro and RipPro?



## shaoyen (Jul 3, 2008)

*Re: Anajet vs DTG HM-1...Help me decide!!!!*

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question, but I tried to search and this thread had been talking about the difference between PrintPro and RipPro. I am about to buy DTG Kiosk2 in Australia, and I have to choose which RIP software upfront. So I couldn't register to the DTG Forum to make up my mind yet. I knew about the basic differences, but which one gives better color since the sales rep keeps suggesting to use PrintPro.

Before I decided to choose DTG, I had seen Arakis and I think they use a rip software based on digital printing instead of textile printing. Which is why in my opinion, I didn't get the result as good as DTG (with PrintPro). To compare PrintPro with RipPro, is RipPro truly a RIP for textile printing? I didn't see the result done with RipPro as I just learnt about other rip at this forum.

Thanks for all the help I can get.

Yo.


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

*Re: Anajet vs DTG HM-1...Help me decide!!!!*

In my opinion of all of the rips that I've used for textile printing, at this point Rip Pro is the best. The author of this rip is a member of the forum, he often shares useful information about the rip, and answers questions from users.


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## TahoeTomahawk (Apr 12, 2006)

I agree with Marc.

When we were using Print Pro, we had to do so many tests prints before we could get the print similar to what we wanted on the screen. There are so many settings it's hard to remember what you used for a print if you had to reprint it.

With Rip Pro, we rarely do a test print and the software is pretty easy to work with as well.


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. I'll continue to work hard to make sure RIP Pro remains the best. 

To answer the question in more detail: Yes, RIP Pro is specifically designed to print on textiles. It did start its life a couple of years ago as a converted proofing RIP but there is virtually nothing left of that ancestry. The automatic and manual white-ink support features are specifically designed for that purpose and are the best on the market. The production run and step-and-repeat functionality are quite textile oriented. The RIP comes profiled right out of the box to print on cotton, canvas, rigid goods, etc. It's pretty much a plug & play.

RIP Pro is a "print-to" RIP. This means that you print "TO" it from Photoshop, Corel or whatever application you use. The RIP automatically launches and process the job, etc. Print Pro and many other textile RIPs are "Print-FROM" RIPs. This means that you have to open the graphic in the RIP application. This severly limits the types of files you can open and it forces you to "learn another application". With RIP Pro you just work in Photoshop or Corel or whatever app you like then when you print, select the proper print-settings click OK. If you need more than one copy (as is often the case) you can use the Production Run feature in RIP Pro and print as many copies as you need without having to print from the app again. You can also export the ripped job so that you can ensure future production runs will be identical.

RIP Pro has at its core a powerful PostScript interpreter. As you know, PostScript is for high-end printing.


Fred Padilla
_VP of Software Development_
_iProof Systems, Inc._

_President,_
_C-Horse Software, Inc._


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## zhenjie (Aug 27, 2006)

Didn't know the Australian distributor was pushign Rip Pro now. Everytime I asked to get Rip Pro from them they told me Print Pro was better. 

I'll try to get Sanjay from Kothari (Print Pro authro) to post here about Print Pro's advantages.


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## shaoyen (Jul 3, 2008)

Thank you everybody for the info  . Adam, have you tried both rip software?

On contrary, the distributor in Australia is pushing toward PrintPro. I read in this forum that outside America, they sell dtg printer with PrintPro. Information and opinion from PrintPro author/developer would be appreciate very much.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Both RIPs are good at what they do. We (SWF East) had to make the same choice about 2 years ago as to which RIP to use when we released white ink. Our reasons for choosing RIP Pro were as follows (in no certain order) - easy to use (no need to learn another software package - a thing we didn't like about our last RIP experience with USSPIT), the software is written in the US which gave us longer interface with the software folks on a daily basis, cost of the software (suffice to say, Print Pro now costs the same as competition tends to drive prices down), history of the software vendor (iProof was once Birmy RIPs one of the earliest players in the RIP marketplace), and lack of need for a security device (history has shown that folks are forever losing their "dongle" and are then crippled until it is replaced - RIP Pro uses different security that does not require a dongle like Print Pro does.) I hope this helps you in your decision process.

Happy Decision Making!


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

The dongle issue is a huge one. This alone would make me consider using RipPro, even if it wasn't the best.


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Hi everyone!

I have a Viper, and I'm having better results with PrintPro, comparing to RIP Pro. I mean, the printing quality is much better with the first one.

Is it just a matter of configurations? Because I would like to continue using RIP Pro, but the comparison makes me tend to PrintPro.

Can somebody help me?

Regards


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

The resolution of the Viper is the same no matter what RIP you use. The "quality" is directly proportional to the resolution you use. If you mean better "color" then that's a different story. As you do not list your print settings I cannot comment on why you're seeing a difference. I will say, however, that RIP Pro produces excellent color on the Viper. There have been improvements to the color profiles over time so be sure you have the latest version of RIP Pro. Also, check your print settings. It could as simple as using the wrong "rendering intent". Because RIP Pro can print from applications (Photoshop, etc) as well as direct from the RIP, you have more control over the color... which means you need to be familiar with the color management functions of your software (Corel, Photoshop, etc.)

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Hi Fred

Yeah, I was meaning "better color", as you correctly guessed. 

Without any major setup, PrintPro is delivering a better result in terms of color. From your answer I conclude that RipPro can deliver same color quality, is that right? 

One doubt remains: how difficult should it be to set up the RipPro in order to have the same results I'm having with PrintPro? 

Thanks for your prompt answer anyway.

Rgds


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

It's not difficult at all. A few thousand people use it every day. The majority use the default settings. There is no "set up" per say, it's simply the print settings you select when you print, just like when you print to an Epson 4880 or any other high-quality printer. You have high quality modes and less quality modes.

Also, "color quality" is a very subjective term. I've heard time and again that the RIP Pro colors are more "accurate" than Print Pro. Simply making every graphic print more saturated does not mean you're getting "better" color necessarily.


As I mentioned before, RIP Pro (unlike Print Pro) allows you to print from applications like Photoshop and Corel. You have to know Photoshop and/or Corel's color management, just like if you were printing to any printer. Alternately, you can open the bitmap right in the RIP and print directly. (This is available in V04 only)

Since you haven't said what version you have or what print settings you're using or what you consider "better", I can only speculate. I suggest the following:

1) Make sure you're running the latest version of RIP Pro (so you know you've got the latest profiles). Check with your dealer for downloading locations, etc.

2) Run the following print settings:
720 x 720 Color
1440x1440 white
RGB Profile: ColorMatch RGB or DGIS_DTG_RGB.ICM

3) If you're printing from Photoshop, make sure you have the rendering intent set to Perceptual. If you're printing from the RIP itself you don't have to worry about that.


That should give you excellent color. If you still like the Print Pro output better, let me know and I'll have our color guys work with you to see what the problem is. If you're printing directly from Corel, there's some tricks you can use to get the color to pop more. The color guys can described them better (it's easy, just some settings in the Corel color management section).



-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

We´ve followed your instructions, and some issues were solved!! Thanks!

But some other issues remain being a real problem. Attached you will see 2 examples of failed prints, both were done on a Viper with the RIP Pro.

1- Why are we getting those white dots instead of a solid color (in case, the orange)? And why is the white base "leaking" below the color? (look at the borders, the white is always appearing) Any idea? (file problem01.jpg)

2- Why is the drawing losing sharpness, I mean, the letters are blurred? Look at the "A", there is no hole in the middle! (file problem02.jpg)

Thanks for your support, all of you are doing a great job!!

Rgds


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

The sharpness has to do with the height of the print head above the material. Lower the print head (reduce the platen gap)

The "leaking" as you describe it is caused by the fact that there is so much more white ink than color ink and that it is at a different resolution. The problem is solved by using the white "choke". You only have to set this once and it's part of the printer installation (the tech that installed your printer should have set that). Go to utilities/Printer & Ink Configuration/White Choke and put positive numbers in the top, bottom, left and right boxes. This will "errode" that many pixels so that it doesn't peek out. The procedure is described in the manual.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Thanks Fred!

You just didn't mention those white pixels in the middle of the letters (look at the word "DARK" printed in orange). Are they symptoms of the other problems?

Regarding the height of the print head - and maybe this is a question that Don-SWF should answer - Viper adjusts it automatically. I have the option to overcome this adjustment, but my fear is to lower it too much and cause any damage (as the print heads are so "fragile"). 

(unless there is also some kind of setup that specifies the minimum clearance that the auto-adjust should respect...)


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

The bed adjusts itself. The "platen gap", however, is user-selectable from the RIP's utilities menu. It is not the same as platen height.

As far as the middle of the "A"... I still don't know anything about your artwork or your print settings so I can't comment. If the file has a transparent background and you print driectly from the RIP, select "Use Transparency To Detect Background" to create the white layer and it will work beautifully. If you're printing from Photoshop the easiest way is to give it a black background and select "Color Layer Auto-Mask (black bkgnd)" as your layer type and that will do it. All this is explained in the documentation.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Ok, think I got that. We'll try it tomorrow, and come back to tell the results.

One more time, thank you so much for all the patience and kindness.

regards


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Hi again.

We're checking all the settings, following your advice.

About the white choke: it was 100%. we put it 50%. Everything seems to be the same, so we're going to reduce it a little more (certainly we were wasting white ink with that 100%). About the numbers for top, bottom, left and right, they were already positive (7/12/14/24). Should we change them?


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

grboc said:


> Hi again.
> 
> We're checking all the settings, following your advice.
> 
> About the white choke: it was 100%. we put it 50%. Everything seems to be the same, so we're going to reduce it a little more (certainly we were wasting white ink with that 100%). About the numbers for top, bottom, left and right, they were already positive (7/12/14/24). Should we change them?


I think you are confused as to the difference between white ink density and white choke.

White ink density is the amount of white ink that is used (volume). This is controlled by a slider in the ink configuration dialog. I'm assuming that's what you set to 50%? I don't know if 50% is enough for good coverage... you can always increase it. I think most people leave it at the default (100%) but I could be wrong.

White Choke is a completely different setting used to make sure that the white ink does not "peek out" from under the color. It has nothing to do with ink volume. You adjust it by increasing the number in the appropriate box if you see white ink peeking out. For example, if you see a hairline of white on the left side of the image, increase the number in the "left" box, etc. You said you were having problem with the white ink peeking out, that is how you adjust that.

No reflection on you but... this is all pretty basic (and easy) stuff that should have been shown to you when the machine was installed. It's part of the installation procedure to set the choke values.

Anyway, I hope that clears it up.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

FredP,

Sorry, I understand what you mean... but the fact is that my dealer is not prepared at all to answer anything about these issues. I think they're even learning though us.

We're planning to go to US for a training session. While this doesn't happen, all I can do is thank you for the enormous help.

Regards


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

OH! My apologies. I didn't realize you were not in the U.S. I guess I need to read more carefully 

That's a different story as you're kind of "on your own". Let me know if you need anything else. We're happy to help.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Hi Fred,

We did some testing yesterday, and PrintPro seems to be delivering a stronger color density, probably because it is using more ink. This becomes quite obvious when we look at the back of the textile (when using PrintPro, we can almost see the complete drawing, while the other is very light).

When we adjust the ink density curve inside RIP Pro (create a new setting, change %, etc.), we save that new setting, choose it and "exit" the dialog box. When we enter that screen again, no setting is shown (the field is blank, as if we hadn't chose anything before). Is it normal? How may I save this new setting as default for the next jobs?

Tks


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

Sounds like you have your density and/or resolution set low. I still don't know how you are printing. What are your print settings exactly? For example, what resolution are you using? Keep in mind, the lower the resolution the less pixels are printed and thus the less possible total ink volume.

Are you printing from an application (Corel, Photoshop, etc.) or directly from the RIP?

When you say "density curve" are you using a custom density curve?

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Printing from Photoshop to RIP. I'm comparing results using same resolutions on both softwares.

And yes, I'm trying to use a custom density curve (considering the possibility that the default curves are not well calibrated for the textile we're using).


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

Lets remember that "over-saturated" doesn't mean "accurate" or "quality". The ink should not be bleeding throught the material. If you try to reproduce a photographic image like that it will be horrible looking and unusable.

The custom density curve is more color adjustment than density adjustment. For example, if you wanted to bring down the mid-tones on a certain image you could bend the middle of the curve down, etc. but it's not for overall density adjustment. Go back to a straight-line (or don't use custom curves since a straight line is the default).
For overall ink volume, use the "Ink Configuration". You'll find it in the "Utilties" menu item. Set all the sliders to 100%

There are many color settings in Photoshop which will alter your color and density. Unfortunately I'm not a Photoshop guru (I just write the code). I also can't have an in-depth Photoshop discussion here. That's something that should be done through support channels.

For an easier comparison you should *print from* the RIP rather than from Photoshop. Use the "Print From" workflow. This is done by using the "Create Job" feature in the "File" menu. This will allow you to import the Photoshop file directly into the RIP and size it, position it and print it without having to use Photoshop. You can preview the different layers and as well as a composite of the color & white. It's very easy to use. You can refer to the documentation (Start/Programs/DTG RIPPro V04/Documentation/Print-From Addendum) for a quick how-to.

That will eliminate any possible pitfalls of the Photoshop color management getting in your way. Select "DGIS RGB" in the RGB Profile under the Color Tab, etc. If you still don't think you're getting enough density, I'll put you in contact with our color department and they'll help you get what you want.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Hi Fred!

Our RIP Pro is generating those "windows errors" when we try to creat a job and print from RIP. I've read that sometimes we need to reinstall everything, maybe it is the actual case.

So, we did a lot of tests using different color profiles inside Photoshop. We did get similar results to what we were having through PrintPro, what made me feel much happier.

Now we're having only one issue when talking about white tees... in some drawings, the gray that appears on the screen is much lighter that the one that is printed. The other colors are quite similar. Any bells? 

But overall I'm happy because things are getting better.

Thanks!


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

Windows errors? Not sure what you mean. Not exactly an abundance of information troubleshooting if you know what I mean.

Not sure what the gray issue is you're describing but I'd be willing to bet that it's a Photoshop setting. Like I said, though, I'm not a Photoshop guru. Try using a different profile. I don't know what to suggest as I dont' even know what colorspace your graphic is in (RGB, CMYK, Lab, NTSC, etc. etc.)

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

I'm talking about that kind of fatal error that crashes the application. 

something like this: [media]http://xbcmania.free.fr/kingpin-error.png[/media]

Everytime I try to create a job inside RIP, the program tries to open the file, but it doesn't work. Only JPEG files may be opened (I tried PSD, TIFF, EPS, PDF, etc.).

But nevermind, I think I'm finding my way with this issue. Thanks for everything.


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

PS: Is bidirectional alignment a software or hardware issue (or firmware, maybe)?


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

grboc said:


> I'm talking about that kind of fatal error that crashes the application.
> 
> something like this: [media]http://xbcmania.free.fr/kingpin-error.png[/media]
> 
> ...


The RIP successfully opens PSD, TIFF, JPG, BMP and all other "bitmap" formats. PDF and EPS, however, are vector-based and you need a separate activation for that. 

Also, If you look closely at that error message, you will notice that *it's not the RIP that's crashing.* It's something called KINGPIN.EXE which has nothing to do with my software.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

This is just an example screen I found on the internet. Nothing to do with the real problem I'm talking about.

And it is not opening anything except JPEG files. Any other file type crashes the application.

But as I told you, it is written somewhere in the documentation that the software must be reinstalled from time to time. I'll be doing that as soon as I can.


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## FredP (Jul 2, 2007)

Ah, yes. I see that now. Be sure to grab the latest version when you reinstall.

-- Fred


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## grboc (Feb 19, 2010)

Could you please tell me which is the latest revision? (here or through PM)

Tks


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## sporter11 (May 23, 2015)

Hello 
Print Pro Rip Software and Neo Rip are same software or different ??


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## bakedts (Jan 15, 2014)

*Re: Anajet vs DTG HM-1...Help me decide!!!!*

They are the same. NeoRip is what All American calls it for branding purposes. They have exclusive rights to sell the product (at least in the U.S.).


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## EricDeem (May 7, 2011)

*Re: Anajet vs DTG HM-1...Help me decide!!!!*



bakedts said:


> They have exclusive rights to sell the product (at least in the U.S.).


That's not true. Many companies are using Kothari's Print Pro RIP software. Freejet and M&R are both using it.


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## bakedts (Jan 15, 2014)

*Re: Anajet vs DTG HM-1...Help me decide!!!!*

Exclusive for the F 2000.


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