In message Thu, 5 Feb 2004, Neil Barstow writes snip
SnipHowever, I am a fully paid up member of Jack's fan club. He works hard and does a great job. It's NOT just about buying the printer and starting a business, Jack has made every effort to set very high standards.!!
Dear Neil
I am taking this opportunity to thank all those who have responded to my question both on and off list....apologies for not having got round to thanking everyone.
Yes indeed all the kit in the world is only as good as the people operating it. This was brought home to me today when I had a meeting here with someone who has had a couple of largish paintings digitally shot on a scanning rig and the results printed on a large ink jet. The scanning kit is said to cost over �50K and whilst both scans had impressive detail and clarity, one would be usable (with quite an amount of careful PS work) and the other had so much false highlighting as to be unusable, and poor coloration! The company was happy to charge my visitor a large sum for both, seemingly oblivious to what they were sending out..
The test prints they produced were laughably poor and the one full size final was by my reckoning reject quality. So for his several hundred mile excursion and commitment of several days, an expenditure of perhaps around �400 in lab charges he has had a tough learning experience. Yes there is more, much more than just fancy kit and smart premises! It takes real commitment and caring to get quality results and that usually only comes from people who are not motivated by their bottom line but rather by their love of the work.
Oh incidentally he and I were running a test in tandem on this project. He had had a local professional photographer shoot both paintings on 4x5 and the plan was to drum scan these and compare with the digital capture. Sadly not only was the lighting uneven across them, but there was a fall off in sharpness across both and a marked increase in contrast exceeding what the film was capable of holding.... I made large drum scans as my contribution but he picked up the tab on his faulty trannies.....that's another �150.00 to chalk up to experience! I know who the lab is but I choose not to inquire who the photographer was.
BTW the multiple posting from me are not due to something I am doing so I apologise in advance if you all have the misfortune to get this several times.
Cheers
Richard -- Top quality drum scanning for Professionals. Ask for our latest pdf.
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