LightJet 430

The Lightjet 430 is a photographic printer that projects a digital image on to a photographic paper, followed by standard RA-4 development. It can output true continuous tone images up to 50" by 120" with a hardware optical resolution of 300 dpi.
For high-volume applications resolution can be lowered to 200dpi (via dedicated set of large aperture optics), while doubling the output. A dedicated on-board interpolation engine allows for smooth scaling of low-res images for optimal printing results.

Because of its generous colour gamut, art to be printed on LJ430 is best represented using AdobeRGB1998 colour space. Our Lightjet 430 can print from any digital file format supported by Adobe Photoshop, while DTP output is handled by Postershop software RIP. Lightjet 430 is fully colour managed - you can find ICC colour profiles for supported media here. We find that Lightjet is particularily impressive when it comes to reproducing rich, dark tones - colours that often turn muddy with giclée technology come out looking vivid and precise.

Lightjet 430 photo printer is the pinnacle of today's photo imaging technology. Built around three top-of-the-line solid state lasers from National Laser Co., heavy-weight precision optical plate and top-notch glass, the Lightjet features a "drum" design, with a mirror assembly moving on air bearings along a precision-machined rail. The focused laser beams are always hitting the paper surface at a 90 degrees angle and are always at the same distance, resulting in a minimal halation, uniform edge-to-edge sharpness and zero geometric distortion.

Dedicated circuitry monitors beam intensity in real-time, adjusting a set of ND filters to compensate for any possible power fluctuations or temperature-related output fall-off. We dare say that when it comes to grayscale balance and colour uniformity Lightjet is in a league of its own. Lastly, to ensure precise and subtle colour control, the LJ430 utilizes a set of RF optical density filters operating in microwave range in pulse-width modulation mode. This no-holds-barred approach might seem as an overkill but it allows this machine to operate with nearly analog smoothness of colour gradations yet with precision and control we have come to expect from digital technology.

Fine Art Giclée Printers

Our trio of Epson printers (4800, 9800 and 11880) are machines well known to artists and photographers striving for the ultimate in inkjet printing technology. Combining tack-sharp output with an astonishing colour gamut, and, thanks to groundbreaking Epson Ultrachrome K3 ink technology, - archival-grade longevity of the prints, these printers are an excellent choice for a giclée enthusiast.

The pair of 4800s are set up for both photo blacks and matte blacks, so you can choose your media with confidence. These printers print on roll or sheet paper up to 17" wide. The larger Epson 9800 is set up for matte black only, and can handle a variety of the finest papers available today, including heavy weight watercolour and canvas media. Lastly, the mammoth Epson 11880 can print on both watercolour and photo papers (it carries both photo- and matte-black) up to 60" wide. It also adds a new component to the Ultrachrome ink set - a Vivid Magenta; this allows for astonishlngly saturated blues, pinks, reds and oranges.

Giclée technology is particularily well suited for light, airy, colourful images, as well as images with wide tonal range.

Because of the minuscule size of ink drops and excellent mechanical fidelity of these devices, we advise to set up your art at resolutions from 400 to 500 dpi. Yes, it is THAT sharp. Since Ultrachrome K3 inks provide an amazing colour gamut, art to be printed on Epsons is best represented using AdobeRGB1998 colour space.

Heidelberg Tango Drum Scanner

This professional-grade machine offers the specs that any CCD-based scanner can only dream of. Its set of state-of-the-art photo-multiplier tubes, mounted on precision optics assembly and combined with German-engineered drive mechanics, assures an astonishing colour fidelity, great density range and ultimate clarity and resolving power.

All the film is oil-mounted so dust, newton rings and other such artifacts of a bygone era are now truly a thing of the past. Our latest upgrade involved moving to Silverfast software, a known leader in scanning software technology; it allowed us to switch to true 16-bit scanning both for positive and negative film types (Tango is internally a 48-bit device).

Some numbers to back up these bold claims:

Maximum true optical resolution of 11,000dpi edge-to-edge across the whole drum, Dmax of 4.2, custom-built ICC colour profiles for positive scanning and a set of amazing colour presets for negative scanning (all the targets are validated and measured with Gretag Macbeth Spectroscan-T spectrophotometer). Large drum surface area of 18"x18" allows for increased productivity.

Imacon Flextight 848 CCD Film Scanner

Top of the heap for CCD-based scanners, Imacon features patented "flex" technology to keep your film in perfect focus; it's a closest thing to a drum scanner's optical precision without the hassles of drum mounting. Its Peltier-cooled CCD scanning element packs 8,000 pixels across, translating into astonishing ~200MB scans from 35mm film frame, yet keeping your scans amazingly (for CCD technology) noise-free. And we have a complete set of film holders covering all the popular film formats and quite a few not-so-popular ones. Now part of the Hasselblad family, Imacon scanners are known for great negative profiles, and they cover pretty much every type of film produced in the last 2 decades.

This scanner is available for rent on per hour basis. Please contact front desk to reserve you time slot.

Our fully colour-managed 848 is connected to a fast G5 workstation with a calibrated 24" LCD screen, tons of RAM, Internet connection and a full suite of the Adobe applications, making this a dream workstation for both hardcore image junkies and casual renters.

Noritsu Film Scanner

Noritsu's 5,000 pixel CCD scanning unit is built for speed and is a great alternative for scanning whole rolls of 135 or 120 film. Economical and fast, Noritsu scans are still a cut above any desktop scanner costing less than a couple thousand dollars, and just a few years ago was an affordable substitute for drum scans.

Today we primarily position this service for bulk scans, web use and the like.

Canon Imagerunner 3200

Colour laser printer capable of printing on paper up to 12"x18" in size, Imagerunner 3200 is an affordable short-run solution. It is fully colour-managed and calibrated, so it can be an economical way of producing flyers, tickets, layout mock-ups, etc. What's more, Imagerunner can scan flat pieces of paper or art in sizes up to 12x18 at 600dpi, which is quite acceptable for comps, web and casual use.

Heidelberg Topaz CCD Scanner

This unit was built as an ultimate flatbed scanner for print professionals. It allows to scan 12"x18" pieces of art up to 1" thick at resolutions up to 6,100 dpi. We use it when the originals are too stiff or frail to be bent around a drum, or too big for desktop Epson scanners that we use throughout the lab. One of Topaz's killer features is it's advanced de-screening capability, - very useful for scanning old printed material. This service is being phased out in favour of our upcoming ultra-large format Cruse Synchron scanner, available in late March.

Mounting and Laminating

• Proven pressure-sensitive methodology
• Wide range of media up to 1/2" thick
• Specialty mounting for Fine Artists and Museum Framers

Noritsu Digital Photo Printer

An excellent example of modern imaging technology, the Noritsu digital photo printer is a fast, efficient and reliable production workhorse. It packs a 12inch-wide imaging engine that produces tack-sharp prints up to 12"x18" in size and can output about 500 8"x10" prints an hour. Built-in calibration routines ensure excellent colour repeatability and integrated cutter/stacker can handle thousands of photos a day.
Noritsu's native imaging resolution is 320 dpi and it supports sRGB IEC61966-2.1 as a default colour space.

Slide Output

To output 35mm slides from digital files, CG uses the Agfa PCR II Plus digital slide recorder. This reliable device is capable of imaging 35mm frames on a long-roll film and boasts a hardware resolution of "4K" - 4096 pixels by 2720 pixel (exact 3:2 proportion).

From general purpose and business presentation to art shows, our slides have extraordinary resolution and colour. For general purpose presentation slides, file size of 15MB and up is quite acceptable, as the Agfa Conductor software does an excellent job interpolating images to match the hardware resolution. And thanks to our robust colour management system, we are able to consistently achieve great colour that is suitable for a wide variety of applications.

We only accept raster files for imaging. The recommended resolutions to be supplied range from 9" x 6" at 300 pixels per inch to 12" x 8" at 340ppi. Files should be in RGB, 8-bit, no channels and landscape orientation. TIFFs and JPEGs are appropriate. Please note that files supplied in incorrect proportion (other than 3:2) will be scaled down to fit the frame, therefore a black border will be visible.

 

Colour Management

Here at CG we are proud to be one of the industry pioneers adoping a colour-managed workflow as far back as the late 90s. Today, every piece of our imaging-relating machinery in the lab is part of a strictly managed calibration and profiling regimen.

While requiring a significant amount of upkeep and management, this approach yields some very important and immediate benefits:

• Reliable on-screen proofing and troubleshooting;
• Absolute repeatability and colour confidence;
• Automatic cross-platform colour matching;
• Enhanced ability to match or swap custom colour samples and spot colours.

As part of our commitment to imaging excellence we make all our production media profiles available for download at no charge(please visit Media page for complete listing of downloadable ICC profiles). Should you require assistance in setting up your workflow to adhere to ICC (International Colour Consortium) industry standards, please do not hesitate to inquire within or via email.

Raw Processing & Digital Editing Software

Colourgenics employs a number of software packages, designed to meet every possible need of a photographer or a graphic designer. We use Lightroom (Adobe CameraRaw), CaptureOne Pro, Bibble, Flexcolor and S7raw. Together, this software selection gives us a tremendous flexibility in the way we process your raw captures. In addition to that we use Genuine Fractals and Photozoom for particularly tricky enlarging jobs and our staff is well trained and experienced in handling raw conversions.

When it comes to editing and layout software, we strive to maintain our position on the bleeding edge of technology. CG always has the latest production versions of Adobe programmes (Photoshop, Illustrator, In-design, Acrobat, Lightroom), as well as a mainstay of desktop publishing - QuarkXpress, so bring in your projects with confidence that there would be zero compatibility issues.

At this time we do not support Corel and Microsoft publishing and DTP software, mostly due to the fact that Postscript generated by these programmes is known to cause problems. If you are positively certain that you need to use these, please inquire with us prior to submitting your work.

Film Processing - E6 and C41

• Best-in-class Refrema microprocessor controlled machines
• Touch-less and scratch free Dip and Dunk
• Push – pull accuracy to 1/8 stop
• Rigorous maintenance procedures ensure consistently stunning quality

Infrastructure

• Deep experience base in file preparation, digital retouching, display project management, and imaging dynamics
• One of a few places in Canada to offer expert hi-end retouching service
• Top of the line computer & networking hardware
• Top of the line colour management hardware and software
• Fast in-house FTP Server, with personalized login for account customers
• Wealth of expertise in digital asset management
• Excellent back-up and file storage capabilities
• Near instantaneous back-up retrieval
• Multiple location and continent-wide shipping management
• IX Gallery and Event Space to enhance Colourgenics' community involvement initiatives