PC PRINTERS
may soon be the answer when a photographer
gets a request from a photo editor for file copies of
recent images. CANON has unveiled a line of printers that
can produce not only text but color printouts of photos
that are close in quality to the real thing. The new
ink-jet color machines cost between $175 and $500. EPSON
has come up with an equally high-quality printer for only
$275. Hewlett-Packard, an industry leader, is coming out
with a similar printer this month.
These innovations have many consequences for editorial
stock photographers. If these printers are quick to catch
on, photobuyers will be able to download a photo from your
Web site and either use it as a layout example (comp) or
if used at a tiny size, for actual reproduction.
Secondly, you'll be able to send off mini "sell sheets"
for file use, once you return from a trip or
self-assignment. If you don't own a scanner, you can have
a company like Seattle FilmWorks (see PhotoStockNotes,
Sept 94, pg 3, or WOLF CAMERA, April 96, pg 1) develop
your roll film and scan the images for you. SFW places
them on a disk for you. WOLFF places them on their Web
site and you can download them to your computer, all
scanned and ready to send to your ink-jet printer.
Into this methodology you could incorporate the use of a
digital camera, providing you deal only in low resolution
pictures for the WWW (World Wide Web). For print
reproduction in books and magazines, photo editors will
still require a much higher resolution than you get with
the average-priced digital camera. -RE
