Digital Press Photo Print Assessment…..which prints do you prefer? Over the past few years, the output quality of digital presses has improved substantially. As a result, their application in photo has increased dramatically from making acceptable quality photobooks to producing a wide range of photo products, including prints, with quality similar to that of silver halide photographic paper. In fact, for many consumers, the quality achieved with the latest generation of digital presses surpasses that of silver halide products. The arrival of digital presses, with their ability to provide variable data printing, i.e. different information on each print or impression, has opened the market for users to serve a much wider customer base. Prolabs that once catered to only one or two professional photography specialties are now able to provide output products and services to all professional photography specialties as well as other business customers and even to consumers. This cross-migration of consumer and professional products has made the economic justification for the substantial investment required for digital presses much more palatable. Some digital presses have evolved to include the operational flexibility that is needed by today’s lab owner. These units can seamlessly handle both long and short orders and they can print on a large variety of substrates to produce prints and pages for high-margin personalized imaging products. Today’s high-end presses can produce prints that meet the expectations of those most discerning professional photographers who practiced their profession when analog ruled, as well as the rapidly expanding population of true digital professionals. The latest generation of toner-based (electrophotography) digital presses includes the Hewlett-Packard Indigo 7500, Kodak NexPress SX3900, and the Xerox iGen4. To gauge the acceptability of the print quality of these latest press models, Photofinishing News, Inc. (PNI) asked qualified imaging professionals to compare the output quality of standard CMYK prints made by these presses. PNI focused on top-of-the-line high end presses capable of achieving photo quality. To accomplish this, PNI asked press manufacturers themselves to produce these prints; informing them that the intent was to compare image quality from comparable devices that have similar productivity and cost. Three distinctively different images that had been printed on the same media by each press were viewed by imaging professionals attending a tradeshow. The ambient viewing conditions of the tradeshow provided a realistic environment for the comparison/assessment for this study. The images used are shown at the end of this paper. PNI was responsible for these tests, which were conducted at two industry tradeshows in late 2011, namely Graph Expo and PhotoPlus Expo. However, since the interview sample mix we were able to obtain by randomly intercepting attendees at Graph Expo had a minority of “imaging professionals,” those overall results have not been included in our analysis in this review, which is consequently based solely on the more discriminating “photo” opinions obtained from the imaging professionals at PhotoPlus Expo. Photofinishing News, Inc. © 2012 10915 Bonita Beach Rd., Suite 1091 Bonita Springs, FL 34135

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Executive Summary The prints used for this assessment were standard non-matte CMYK prints without any top coat or additional color toners. Kodak requested an additional step to include an alternate set of prints that were made by adding their HD Light Black Ink on the NexPress SX engine. The use of the additional toner does not alter the capital cost or the productivity of that press. The results of the blind (prints were not identified) survey, intercept (attendees at the tradeshow were randomly stopped) assessment of 150 qualified imaging professionals performed at the PhotoPlus Expo 2011 show in New York City indicate that, when viewing the overall standard prints, not including the Kodak alternate Light Black prints, 40% of the survey participants preferred the Kodak NexPress SX digital press prints; 38% selected the Xerox iGen4 prints; and 22% the HP Indigo 7500 prints.

Standard Prints Assessment 38% 40% 40%

22%

30% 20% 10% 0% Kodak NexPress SX

HP Indigo 7500

Xerox iGen4

When the Kodak alternate Light Black prints are included, the results of the survey indicate an overall preference for the Kodak NexPress SX prints with 73% of the total, followed by 18% for the Xerox iGen4 prints, and 9% for the HP Indigo 7500 prints. It should be noted that the Indigo 7500 is capable of six color printing to enhance the print with light cyan and light magenta. This can be especially useful in professional photo applications. However, for this assessment and in compliance with the requirements for this effort only the Indigo 4 color CMYK printing was used. It is our understanding that adding the two extra colors in prints made on the Indigo 7500 press reduces the productivity of the press, which would change the premise of this study which is to compare the image quality of similar cost and productivity presses under similar operating conditions. The Xerox iGen is not capable of printing with additional toners.

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Standard and Kodak Light Black Prints

80%

73% 18%

60% 40%

9%

20% 0% Kodak NexPress SX

HP Indigo 7500

Xerox iGen4

Caution should be used in the interpretation of these data in terms of using these results as a contributing factor in any decision for purchasing a digital press. Some digital presses cannot make standard and alternate prints without a switchover that requires notable downtime, thus incurring an interruption in the production operation. While many digital presses have the ability to add colors beyond the basic CMYK to print specific colors or to enhance images, particularly portraits, this may require a higher capital cost and incur a slowdown in productivity. Therefore assessing a potential investment in a new digital press should dictate that the types of prints that will be required to meet customer demands be carefully considered: can a single press print the entire range of expected prints at the desired quality, and, if so, can it switch between finishes or alternate toners in a seamless way which does not involve a notable switchover time that could interrupt operations? Otherwise more than one press may be needed to meet the requirements of a prolab. Another important factor to consider, already mentioned, is the productivity, or output rate, since the throughput may vary with the print finish or number of toners being used. Methodology Three different images obtained from a professional photographer were printed separately by experts at Hewlett-Packard, Kodak and Xerox on an Indigo 7500, a NexPress SX3900 and an iGen4, respectively. The following printing criteria were used for the standard prints (although this media was not optimized for each of the digital presses):     

Mohawk Kromecoat True Photo 10pt media No border 8.5”x11” finished No overcoat CMYK four color Digital press standard finish

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Each manufacturer was requested to provide prints meeting these criteria using their latest generation digital press, as outlined above. Kodak requested the alternate Light Back print set to be included since making these prints with the NexPress SX does not impact the equipment cost or the productivity. The prints were mounted on tri-fold professional quality folders. Each set consisted of one print from each manufacturer. The Kodak Light Black print for each image was displayed alone. The participants were asked not to judge the prints based on photographic compositions such as lighting and posing, but instead to make their assessment based on printing characteristics such as black level, shadow detail, highlight detail, smoothness, sharpness, and saturation. To achieve a realistic comparison/assessment, the prints were viewed under the varying lighting conditions at a tradeshow rather than under carefully controlled conditions. The blind intercept survey was performed at two industry tradeshows – Graph Expo 2011 in Chicago and PhotoPlus 2011 in New York City. Photofinishing News staff intercepted tradeshow attendees at different locations in these shows and requested their participation, for which a nominal compensation was offered as an incentive. The participants were shown the standard finish sets and asked to select their preferred print; then the Kodak Light Black alternate print was compared to the standard preferred print. A total of 150 completed surveys were obtained at each tradeshow. Since the objective of the survey was to assess the quality of digital press photo output for professional photography applications, it was imperative that the survey participants be imaging professionals involved in photography who would have a critical eye. We categorized the participants as professional photographers, pro lab, press / analysts, commercial printers, and “other” imaging professionals. Only a small percentage of the participant of the Graph Expo show met these criteria thus we decided to not include the results obtained at Graph Expo. The breakdown of those participants intercepted at PhotoPlus Expo in New York is shown here.

Survey Participants Categories pro photographer

pro lab

print service provider

press

other

70%

7%

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5%

9%

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9%

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Results The 150 completed surveys obtained from the PhotoPlus tradeshow are analyzed in two ways. The first consists of assessing the standard prints provided by HP, Kodak, and Xerox. The second assessment includes the Kodak NexPress SX3900 HD Light Black prints. The survey results indicate that 40% of the participants preferred the Kodak NexPress SX standard prints compared to 22% for the Indigo standard prints, and 38% for the Xerox iGen4 standard prints, as shown here.

Standard Prints Assessment 38% 40% 40%

22%

30% 20% 10% 0% Kodak NexPress SX

HP Indigo 7500

Xerox iGen4

When the Kodak Light Black prints are added to the assessment, 73% of the survey participants selected the combined Kodak prints compared to 18% for the Xerox prints and 9% for the HP Indigo prints.

Standard and Kodak Light Black Prints

80%

73% 18%

60% 40%

9%

20% 0% Kodak NexPress SX

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HP Indigo 7500

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Xerox iGen4

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The images used in the assessment are shown below.

About Photofinishing News, Inc. Over 29 years of analyzing developments and reporting on the global consumer and professional photoimaging industry has given Photofinishing News keen insights into the dynamics of this industry as well as earning the respect of industry members around the world. Through our close engagement with leading photo imaging manufacturers, retailers, and organizations, we are able to provide primary and secondary market research, marketing and business solutions that are used by our clients to influence strategic decisions to favorably advance their businesses. For details on our key staff members, and an overview of our full capabilities, please visit us at www.photo-news.com .

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