What did you use for film printing before the epson?

[3Deep]

I know now that the epson brand inkjet printers have taking over the market for film seps, but what did you use before that and for film, some you might not have been in biz long enough to have used anything else. also
#1 who first started the epson craze
#2 which model was first
#3 what company did a test using the epson
#4 what film hit the market first for the espon

Darryl

[blue moon]

xerox wax printer I happen to have laying around until I could afford an EPSON 3000.
My understanding is that the 3000 was the first successful ink jet to be used for film generation.

pierre

[Frog]

1. Camera and real film
2. Minolta/QMS Laser (with real postscript when needed)
3. HP 9800 (with Ghost when needed)

I think that Epsons became the standard when aftermarket RIPs were written for them. This could be a chicken and egg situation though.

[abchung]

Did several things.
Non-detailed arts: Use the laser printer(HP with P.S) to print on paper then used oil to make it transparent.

Fine detailed arts: I send my designs to 2 places that produces films from imagesetters.

A had a couple of offers from them to buy the film back. I think they want to extract silver from it.

I moved to epson because quality was not consistent with the imagesetters (ie Dmax).

[tonypep]

Camera like Andy and diffusion transfer

[ABuffington]

A #2 Rapidograph, Amberlith, Formatt Type, Chartpak type, Swivel X-acto knives, Kimo Pens, Kodak#2 Red Mask, and hours of hand drawing.
A contact frame, an Acti Camera, neg film, contact halftone sheets.  So glad we have Photoshop and Epsons today.  I spent one month hand stippling the Beast for Disney's Beauty and the beast with a #2 Rapidograph and opaque inks.  That could easily be done in an afternoon with manipulated gradations and mesh in Photoshop. Separations?
We can do it now intstantly in Sep Studios, and rip it with flawless halftones that are linearized for excellent printed tonals.  It amazes me how far the industry has come.

Al

[Stinkhorn Press]

Our shop used a camera/real film/rubylith for longer than most (2004ish and on past...).
for a short and apparently terrible time a laserprinter4 (8.5x11) using not even close to transparent film that required overlapping print the film and taping it together 
Then on to 1400s. On our third one. hopefully by the time this one kicks it we'll be looking at 3000s (or whatever the next standard is at that time).

 

[Frog]

  It amazes me how far the industry has come.

Al

And how easy these young whippersnappers have it! There was a time when I worked doing nothing but camera. Could you imagine paying someone to do nothing but push "print"?

[StuJohnston]

Now that Epson has recognized the DTG market, I wonder if they would be willing to make an all black film printer, or CTS. I think I posted this sort of thing about the DTG a while ago, so hopefully this comes true as well. Those OYO imagesetters are looking pretty cool, but for the price of the 18" one I could get the large format epson plus the RIP that I need and have money left over.

Oh yeah, before I had my 10600, I used a laser printer as well. But I wasn't making money with it at the time either. I think I did one job for money when I had it.

[dirkdiggler]

aspect image setter, NOT worth the cost.  Before that I shot film every day for the next days work.

[Sbrem]

Like the other old guys, Tony and Andy, an actual camera, tray developing film until they went to diffusion transfer film and got a processor. Then a Xante ScreenWriter 3, which wasn't too shabby, but inferior to the inkjets, though faster throughput. Epson 1400 and 4800 now, though the 4800 is currently down...obviously the first stuff was very pre-digital, early 70's

Steve

[Squeegie]

Local offset shop was making films. (Inconsistent and not very reliable turn around)
HP Laserjet with Autotype vellums and a spray fixative for a while.
Then discovered a stat camera in a trailer full of equipment we bought...started using diffusion transfers. 
Then on to the Espon 3000 and never looked back.

[aauusa]

i still have a trusty hp5100 that i use for most not detailed jobs.  vellum. 

[sqslabs]

As a young fella growing up in a screen printing shop, my first designs were cut on Amberlith with an X-acto.  Shortly after, an early Mac arrived up at the shop and I figured out Aldus Freehand well enough to print to vellum on a laser printer, which stayed as the norm for a while.  I miss the speed of the laser, but not the reg problems.

[screenprintguy]

HP Lazerjet 11x17 lazer film and "toner darkener Spray" lol. Now, I-Image CTS