Printers using CMYK isn't strictly true, right? Aren't you able to choose the ink colors when getting prints professionally made?
At work we have CMYKW printers, which add an extra channel of white ink to the mix.
So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
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Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're correct, there are some more sophisticated processes used by specialty printers such as CcMmYK ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CcMmYK_color_model ). Something like this will use more inks and less halftones, giving better results in some cases. Or are you referring to other printing methods, say for example silk screening? There, you would definitely select a specific ink to use. It just depends on what your g…
Or they could be referring to Spot Color.
One of my favorites is spot gloss.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#13I always thought of plotters as legacy tech, but considering the variety of marking tools you can attach to the head, I'm wondering if I should get one. Does anyone know of an inexpensive plotter you can buy or build?
Cricuts (and similar cutters, and multi-mode tools like the Xtool M1 and Bambu Lab H2D) have pen attachments
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#14I always thought of plotters as legacy tech, but considering the variety of marking tools you can attach to the head, I'm wondering if I should get one. Does anyone know of an inexpensive plotter you can buy or build?
I made one for roughly $100 USD from an Arduino, steel rods, some stepper motors, and some 3D printed parts.
Having an existing 3d printer is a bit “draw the rest of the owl” for this, but being able to extend and modify a device like a pen plotter is pretty nice.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#15Im on my second Bantam tools next draw and love it. Having made a similar transition from generative art to printmaking with a risograph and drawing with a pen plotter; I love the slow physical process of using them.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#16Printers using CMYK isn't strictly true, right? Aren't you able to choose the ink colors when getting prints professionally made?
I have a Canon Pixma Pro 100 and it uses 8 different inks. The “Pro” really means professional. When used with the correct paper, it produces the same high quality prints as any professional service.
Looking at the artwork on my wall, there’s two big things that set prints apart from an original artwork. 1. Computer software doesn’t capture the imperfection of a physical medium. 2. Printers can’t reproduce the texture of layered colors.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#17I always thought of plotters as legacy tech, but considering the variety of marking tools you can attach to the head, I'm wondering if I should get one. Does anyone know of an inexpensive plotter you can buy or build?
Cricuts (and similar cutters, and multi-mode tools like the Xtool M1 and Bambu Lab H2D) have pen attachments
Yes. But no geek should be getting a Cricut when the Silhouette machines exist and are not so locked down and cloud encumbered.
ETA: I guess a true maths geek nerd artist would probably want something more modular and larger anyway, but the Silhouette machines are varied, interesting, support a pretty well documented protocol (GPGL, a variant of/alternative to HPGL I think) and are supported in Inkscape and Python.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#18I always thought of plotters as legacy tech, but considering the variety of marking tools you can attach to the head, I'm wondering if I should get one. Does anyone know of an inexpensive plotter you can buy or build?
I made one for roughly $100 USD from an Arduino, steel rods, some stepper motors, and some 3D printed parts. Having an existing 3d printer is a bit “draw the rest of the owl” for this, but being able to extend and modify a device like a pen plotter is pretty nice.
You can also pick up used older printers (like the Ender 3) secondhand VERY cheap and convert them.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#19Printers using CMYK isn't strictly true, right? Aren't you able to choose the ink colors when getting prints professionally made?
I had a summer job working at a print software company and they had a large format printer with, if I remember correctly, 12 different ink colours. These weren't spot colours - though that's also an example of going outside CMYK - but meant the printer supported a very wide colour gamut and subtle colour grading.
Anyway, yes, professional printing can go beyond just CMYK in various ways.
Re: So what's the difference between plotted and printed artwork?
#20For whit inks how about uv printers?