Ripping to a Mimaki cjv30-160 using Mac OSX

[nikdoobs]

Our print shop is ready to purchase a mimaki cjv30-160 with rasterlink pro 5. I'm a big mac guy and rasterlink is not mac compatible. Does anyone print to a mimaki using Fusion or another program where you can run windows on your mac? If so do you have any problems with it? I see there is now a flexi-sign that is compatible with mac, but if I'm not mistaken I will not be able to print from Flexi, I have to use rasterlink.

Are there any other similar printers that have a rip software that is compatible with MAC OSX? It looks like I would run into the same problem using versaworks through Roland.

I did a search and basically found that everyone who wants to use a mac either uses two machines (a mac to design, and a pc to rip/print), or bites the bullet and just uses a pc.

Thanks in advance,
-Nick

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Nick,

It may be possible to run Rasterlink on your Mac, but it probably will not be supported and this becomes an issue if (when) you need support with the RIP software. Caldera is the only RIP application that I can think of that can run natively on a Mac.

You are correct, I think that it is safe to assume that most folks RIP off of a PC, even Mac shops. We build many RIP computers for Mac shops.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I install many CJV30s a year and have a lot of customers who use a MAC to design. I have set it up 2 ways. You can get a PC laptop and network it with the MAC. Then you can use the FineCut (Works on MAC) plug-in for Corel or Illustrator to send the jobs over to the PC for printing and cutting. The other way is to run Parallels and use the FineCut plug-in to send to RasterLink on the PC side. They both work well, but I recommend getting the Laptop as it will be just about as expensive as Parallels and a copy of Windows, and it also has less glitches.

 

[John Butto]

Shiraz RIP runs on a Mac and a PC
http://www.shiraz-software.com/

 

[nikdoobs]

Thanks for the info. It would be great if I could just install Caldera or Shiraz and rip/print directly from my MAC. Does anyone on here use either of these programs on ther MAC?

If so, do you have any problems with them? Do you recommend it? Pros/Cons?

TIA
-NICK

 

[Matt-Tastic]

Thanks for the info. It would be great if I could just install Caldera or Shiraz and rip/print directly from my MAC. Does anyone on here use either of these programs on ther MAC?

If so, do you have any problems with them? Do you recommend it? Pros/Cons?

TIA
-NICK

Go with Caldera. there are probably 50 people that run it on here that will tell you how solid it is. I've run it on numerous macs (Caldera only runs mac for their sales reps), as well as PC. If you've got an older Intel Mac, you can just use that one as a dedicated RIP, or install it on your design system. I like RLP, but it is PC only and would probably be a hassle at best to run virtually.

 

[John Butto]

Thanks for the info. It would be great if I could just install Caldera or Shiraz and rip/print directly from my MAC. Does anyone on here use either of these programs on ther MAC?

If so, do you have any problems with them? Do you recommend it? Pros/Cons?

TIA
-NICK

You can download free trials of these two RIPs and see which one you like.

 

[nikdoobs]

thanks john. That's what I'll do.

 

[wmshuman]

I do.

 

[wmshuman]

Our print shop is ready to purchase a mimaki cjv30-160 with rasterlink pro 5. I'm a big mac guy and rasterlink is not mac compatible. Does anyone print to a mimaki using Fusion or another program where you can run windows on your mac? If so do you have any problems with it? I see there is now a flexi-sign that is compatible with mac, but if I'm not mistaken I will not be able to print from Flexi, I have to use rasterlink.

Are there any other similar printers that have a rip software that is compatible with MAC OSX? It looks like I would run into the same problem using versaworks through Roland.

I did a search and basically found that everyone who wants to use a mac either uses two machines (a mac to design, and a pc to rip/print), or bites the bullet and just uses a pc.

Thanks in advance,
-Nick

I have an (intel) 2008 iMac and use Parallels 7 to run Windows XP to run Rasterlink Pro 5 along with Flexi 8. Everything works as expected.

 

[nikdoobs]

Thanks for the info human. I plan on trying that as well. We should have our mimaki delivered by next Thursday. I'll keep ya'll updated with what works best for me. This is all very useful information.

It amazes me that the best wide format printers in the industry still do not come OSX compatible rip software. It shouldn't be this hard to print from computers that most design professionals use. It makes me wonder if they have some kind of deal with microsoft.

 

[Johncerra]

Shiraz Rip

Nick we have been running Shiraz on our macs for about 6 years now to run Epson 11880, Gs6000 and Designjet 5500 simultaneously.
it is without doubt the most stable rip we have ever used and Color profiling is just spot on across the board.

You can't go wrong with Shiraz.

John

 

[nashvillesigns]

rasterlink on a mac.

i wish everyday.