EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

[Steeldraon]

Hi Guys,

Need some advice. I have a small print shop. We print pages of text for our customers. It's 90% of the time, Helvetica bold 12 point font. We currently use an ab dick 360 and a mutli 1250. Sometimes its a pain to get negatives and setup the artwork to run plates, for rush orders. I don't even know if the customers even care about the quality to be honest. Is there a big difference in 300/600e/600 dpi when its small text, and not graphics? We will print directly from InDesign to the Riso, so the quality will be as good as possible.

I have been looking at both a ez590(600 edpi) and an Rz990(true 600 dpi). Since they are far away there is no way to test the print quality. What print quality is acceptable for small text printing only?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[jermyth]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

Yes there is a noticeably difference between the 590 and 990. The 990 is blacker, heavier, more solid fill, IMHO. Will it show for what you're printing I can't say for sure. As for direct printing with InDesign, not so sure how will RISO drivers like it. Heard indifferent reports on success. Anyone else?

[Steeldraon]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

Thanks for the reply Jermyth. I ended up buying the ez 590. I'll do a post on my opinion of the 600 edpi quality, once we have it setup and running to compare it with offset printing for basic text.

Fingers are crossed that it looks good enough to use for customer jobs.

[Steeldraon]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

Just wanted to do an update on my Riso for others to read.

1. I bought the ez 590 for text printing ( Helvetica and Arial bold 12 - 14 point). It replaced a multilith with kompac II system, which printed really nice with great registration. The printing quality i would give a 9, for the Multi. The Riso is would give a 7. When printing with a Riso at 600 edpi font looks nice and dark. I adjust the quality of print through the Riso print driver after setting up in Adobe Indesign. When i print from the USB stick i have the speed on machine already set at 2 and the density at 3 or 4. Before i made this change the print looked like it was kinda like a dark halftone. Now the fonts look completely solid. The edges are not as crisp as the Mutli, but not one customer has complained or said a word. I actually think the font looks better when smaller sized, I even made a logo with phone # etc., that i added to each backside.

There are a lot of pros for the Riso:

#1 - I can setup and print 2 sides(1500 each) way faster than the multi(offset). Also no waiting for an hour or two for it to dry and be ready to print on backside. On small runs 100 to 2500, the Riso is faster, from start to Finish.

#2 - If a customer calls at 4:00PM and wants something custom, like 1500 double sided, i know i can get it done. I have in the past few months accepted many jobs, that before i would not have done, or ones where i accepted but then had to deliver the next day. Now i know i can get it complete and shipped out by 6:00PM.

#3 - No need for all the chemicals/supplies (Metal plates, plate developer, film, film developer, Fix, fountain solution, blanket cleaner etc., there are even more used for cleaning the rubber/metal rollers at night or monthly). They do add up. Also, no need to pay for getting rid of the used chemicals either. With the Riso all you need are masters and ink. No need for a rag service anymore. No need to worry about the fire department doing the yearly inspection looking for violations.

#4 - I get over 25,000 prints 1 sided per tube. I only print on the bottom of the paper, so that makes a difference.

#5 - From print #5 to 1500 ink color stays consistently dark. No worrying about ink going to dark or running light during run.



Negatives for the Riso:

1. Print quality is not as crisp and registration is not perfect. It's good enough though. Not one customer has complained.

2. If/when machine has an error. It will be harder to fix. Lots of sensors and computer boards to go bad, when you are in the middle of a job.

3. On longer runs the master loses its size and quality.

I just wanted to give my honest feedback for other small printers to read. Years ago i heard about Riso's, but heard the quality was crap. I wish i could go back in time and buy this machine sooner. I will in the future be buying a 990 to get real 600X600 printing, i'll do another post then too.

If anyone knows of a Riso service tech in the Los Angeles area, let me know. Might need one sooner than later.

Best Regards,

Steel

[20gaugeO/U]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

Welcome to the Riso world. The Z line is a great machine but nothing lasts forever without minor service or parts. I have a printer that has 3 machines and 2 of them have rolled over 10 million and are still running daily.

Find Us


Just throwing this out there

http://www.copytechnet.com/forums/for-sale-trade-or-wanted/83408-new-rz-1090u-4-color-drums.html#post389550

[LA TECH]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

I'm in Los Angeles area and yes I'm a Riso trained Technician been working from the old RA/RC series to the newest comcolor X1 working for a Riso Dealer currently.

[Philh]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

You have got it right on when it comes to Riso. I also have a small print shop in Arizona and have had the GR3700 series and 2 RP 3700.The GR's copies were always wet and low res. I don't think I produced a saleable job and always had to reprint on the offset press. I sold it 3 months later and a few years went by before I purchased a new RP 3700 which ran great for 900K copies and then suddenly quit with error codes which Riso techs or myself were unable to diagnose,and even if I could Riso does not have parts. I had to resort to running small quantities of envelopes on the press,which was a real pain. Finally I located another RP on Ebay with less than 500K copies, and along with the previous RP for parts, I though I should get another 400k copies hopefully. As that was just this week we will see! I can't believe I bought another Riso, but after struggling with making plates, setting up, running,and cleaning the press fora small envelope jobs I was getting desperate for an easier alternative. You are right about no customer complaints from Riso jobs as none of my customers ever complained. It's a pity that Riso have such poor customer support regarding parts and service. If Canon were to make a similar duplicator,I'dbuy one in a hearbeat!

Just wanted to do an update on my Riso for others to read.

1. I bought the ez 590 for text printing ( Helvetica and Arial bold 12 - 14 point). It replaced a multilith with kompac II system, which printed really nice with great registration. The printing quality i would give a 9, for the Multi. The Riso is would give a 7. When printing with a Riso at 600 edpi font looks nice and dark. I adjust the quality of print through the Riso print driver after setting up in Adobe Indesign. When i print from the USB stick i have the speed on machine already set at 2 and the density at 3 or 4. Before i made this change the print looked like it was kinda like a dark halftone. Now the fonts look completely solid. The edges are not as crisp as the Mutli, but not one customer has complained or said a word. I actually think the font looks better when smaller sized, I even made a logo with phone # etc., that i added to each backside.

There are a lot of pros for the Riso:

#1 - I can setup and print 2 sides(1500 each) way faster than the multi(offset). Also no waiting for an hour or two for it to dry and be ready to print on backside. On small runs 100 to 2500, the Riso is faster, from start to Finish.

#2 - If a customer calls at 4:00PM and wants something custom, like 1500 double sided, i know i can get it done. I have in the past few months accepted many jobs, that before i would not have done, or ones where i accepted but then had to deliver the next day. Now i know i can get it complete and shipped out by 6:00PM.

#3 - No need for all the chemicals/supplies (Metal plates, plate developer, film, film developer, Fix, fountain solution, blanket cleaner etc., there are even more used for cleaning the rubber/metal rollers at night or monthly). They do add up. Also, no need to pay for getting rid of the used chemicals either. With the Riso all you need are masters and ink. No need for a rag service anymore. No need to worry about the fire department doing the yearly inspection looking for violations.

#4 - I get over 25,000 prints 1 sided per tube. I only print on the bottom of the paper, so that makes a difference.

#5 - From print #5 to 1500 ink color stays consistently dark. No worrying about ink going to dark or running light during run.



Negatives for the Riso:

1. Print quality is not as crisp and registration is not perfect. It's good enough though. Not one customer has complained.

2. If/when machine has an error. It will be harder to fix. Lots of sensors and computer boards to go bad, when you are in the middle of a job.

3. On longer runs the master loses its size and quality.

I just wanted to give my honest feedback for other small printers to read. Years ago i heard about Riso's, but heard the quality was crap. I wish i could go back in time and buy this machine sooner. I will in the future be buying a 990 to get real 600X600 printing, i'll do another post then too.

If anyone knows of a Riso service tech in the Los Angeles area, let me know. Might need one sooner than later.

Best Regards,

Steel

[Iowatech]

Re: EZ 590 for printing text for a customer?

You have got it right on when it comes to Riso. I also have a small print shop in Arizona and have had the GR3700 series and 2 RP 3700.The GR's copies were always wet and low res. I don't think I produced a saleable job and always had to reprint on the offset press. I sold it 3 months later and a few years went by before I purchased a new RP 3700 which ran great for 900K copies and then suddenly quit with error codes which Riso techs or myself were unable to diagnose,and even if I could Riso does not have parts. I had to resort to running small quantities of envelopes on the press,which was a real pain. Finally I located another RP on Ebay with less than 500K copies, and along with the previous RP for parts, I though I should get another 400k copies hopefully. As that was just this week we will see! I can't believe I bought another Riso, but after struggling with making plates, setting up, running,and cleaning the press fora small envelope jobs I was getting desperate for an easier alternative. You are right about no customer complaints from Riso jobs as none of my customers ever complained. It's a pity that Riso have such poor customer support regarding parts and service. If Canon were to make a similar duplicator,I'dbuy one in a hearbeat!

That's weird that you had such problems with a GR Riso. Back in the day when they weren't obsolete there were quite a few GRs around here that ran extremely well and they were very easy to work on, too.
It is a shame that you aren't out here on the periphery, I've had very little trouble with parts for non-obsolete Risograph equipment. Technical support occasionally has been a little troublesome, but that's just because they are in New Jersey - our different accents can sometimes require a bit of patience when talking on the phone, which if they were in a hurry is hard to produce. (Well, OK, the current version of the Riso tech website did stink when they first rolled it out, but I've used it enough so it is no big deal anymore.)
Good luck finding a duplicator from Canon. Muahahahaha!