Inkjet vs. Fuji Frontier

Both are digital processes. Can the best of the current line-up of

inkjet printers outperform a laser photoprinter? To what extent

is the verdict dependent on the relative qualities of the scans?

The best Ink-Jet printers CANNOT compete with high gloss photo-papers, and that's not much of a debate. The Fuji Frontier/Lambda/LightJet part of the process has little to do with it. It's the paper.

 

One look at a properly made glossy Fujiflex print off a LightJet will make you throw away your highgloss Ink-jet paper in about 5-seconds.

 

Where the ink-jet printers rule is one semi-gloss or matte based art papers. The direct ink to paper process of the better inkjet printers doesn't 'dumb down' the image to the extent that occurs with non-glossy RA-4 type color papers. Can't explain exactly why, but it just has always look that way to my eyes. Fuji Crystal Archive takes a massive hit in terms of contrast and color saturation when you move from glossy to their lustre what-ever you call it portrait paper. The ink-jet papers don't seem to make such a radical shift because the inks sit mostly on top of the medium rather than diffuse through it as in the case of color emulsion paper.

 

The cotton based fine art papers like Somerset Velvet or Hahnemuhle Rag produce ink-jet prints from Epson printers well out-side the capabilites of conventional color papers. Best way to describe them is a color silver gelatin print.

 

The higher gamut range of the color photographic papers seem to show scan problems faster than Ink-Jet media.

Is it possible to create high-gloss ink-jet paper that would enable ink-jet printers to compete with Frontier/Fujiflex or even Frontier/Crystal Archive Type C?

The inks would need to match the gamut range of the dyes used in Fujiflex, and so far the best ink sets I've seen, which include Epson's Ultrachrome inks, aren't even close to Fujiflex or Crystal Archive.

Why is it that the gamut range of the best ink sets cannot match those in Fujiflex or CA - is it technology or is it that the cost of these types of ink sets would be cost prohibitive for the consumer?

A <a href="http://www.ekdahl.org/kurs/calibration.pdf">chromaticity diagram</a> in <i>Photoshop Artistry</i> shows that inkjets are trailing Crystal Archive in the "cool" tones (<a href="http://w3.iac.net/~dmeranda/topics/purple.html">purple</a> to blue), but excel otherwise on glossy paper. I wonder where the Ultrachromes lie.

But what if you hate high gloss papers to begin with? I've found that lightjet kicks the pants off of inkjet no matter what paper is used. I'm not a techno nerd about these things so I don't know if it's resolution or what, but the lightjet prints I've had made just pull out a lot more fine detail than inkjet of the same photo.