Hey All,
We were using Accurip Ruby (and every version before that) with little trouble for years and years. Last week, Ruby decided to stop working so I reached out to Freehand for support. They told me that I needed to upgrade to Emerald. I had previously not upgraded because they told me that our film printer, and Epson Surecolor T3270 was not supported. It is still not listed as supported on their site, but they told me that they would help me get it set up.
I allowed their support team remote access to my computer, via TeamViewer. They got me set up and it's usable, but I'm not loving it at all.
For one, I'm not able to print any films that are taller than 48". Previously when using Ruby, I would print huge gang sheets with several multi color designs on one sheet no problem. Also, the way Emerald works adds more click to my workflow. In Ruby, I would hit command P, and then select the custom media size, and the films would print. Now, I have to do those two steps, and then wait for it to get into Emerald, then click print again, and select a custom media size slightly larger than the actual print size.
If I try to be efficient with my film use and have the start of the positive image right at the end of the film, like I was able to do in Ruby, it will get cut off. I now need to leave an extra inch or so on my artboard, and also choose a custom print size larger than that to not end up with something cut off.
This brings my to my final complaint, the wait for the data to get into Emerald. When printing a larger film (again limited to 24x48"), the time between clicking print and the data landing in Emerald is several minutes. This throws my flow off even more. The solution that Freehand proposed is for me is to upgrade from a USB cable to an Ethernet Over USB setup. Doing this will require me to track down, buy and troubleshoot more hardware.
It all just feels like a downgrade from Ruby, and I'm not even sure why these changes were made. /Rantover
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Does anyone have an alternative RIP that they prefer? I print from Illustrator, either vector art or by placing raster images in a document.
Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! :) :)