ANAHEIM, Calif. – The winners of the 2010 DIMA Digital Printer Shoot-Out were announced today at the PMA International Convention and Trade Show in Anaheim, Calif. Winners displayed during PMA 2010 were chosen from 63 prints entered by 18 companies.

   DIMA Digital Printer Shoot-Out entries were produced from files created by color experts at X-Rite Color Services, Grand Rapids, Mich. Participants were asked to provide specific information pertaining to the equipment used (printer, RIP, etc.); the consumables used (output media, ink/toner/dye, etc.); and the production timing. A panel of expert judges voted on the entries based on the overall quality of the digital print and the quality of the color. The panel of judges included well-respected names in the industry: Richard Lerner, RSL Digital Consultants; Rick Lucas, Digital Attributes/Lucas Imaging; and Phil Nelson, Phil Nelson Imaging LLC.

Judging for the event took place at GTI Graphic Technology Inc., Newburgh, N.Y., which donated the space and a 5,000 Kelvin lighting environment.

   An X-Rite Color Checker with known values was embedded into the DIMA Target File, which was measured by X-Rite Color Services to determine the delta E of the actual value.
   Qualitative criteria also judged included neutral gray balance reproduction, saturation, shadow depth and quality, overall tonality and detail, highlights and specular highlights, flesh tones, hue shift, and text.
   The winners of the 2010 DIMA Digital Printer Shoot-Out are as follows:

RA-4 Digital Printer, 13 to 29 inches wide
Polielettronica – LaserLab 50-20 inch
POLI-PRO-USA Inc., Hillsboro, Ore.

RA-4 Digital Printer, 30 to 49 inches wide
Imetto, Lexta 30
Imetto Digital Imaging Technology Co. Ltd., Guangzhou, China

RA-4 Digital Printer, 50 inches wide or larger
Polielettronica – LaserLab 127-50 inch
POLI-PRO-USA Inc., Hillsboro, Ore.

RA-4 Digital Printer, Digital Minilab, 12 inches maximum
Frontier LP7700 Digital Printer Processor
Fujifilm North America Corp., Valhalla, N.Y.

RA-4 Digital Printer, Digital Minilab, 8 inches maximum
TDS-1838 Prismlab CHINA Ltd., Shanghai, China

Digital Press (21-70 ppm)
HP Indigo 5500 Digital Press
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif.

Digital Press (71+ ppm)
HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif.

Inkjet, 9 to 17 inches wide
Epson Stylus Pro 4880
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va.

Media, 4-by-6-inches
Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285 GSM Inkjet Photo Cards
Hahnemühle USA, Woodstock, Ill.

Media, 8.5-by-11-inches
Museo Silver Rag
InteliCoat Technologies, South Hadley, Mass.

Media, 13-by-19-inch sheet or 13-inch roll
Epson Premium Semimatte (260)
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va.

Media, 24 inches wide or larger
Epson Premium Semimatte (260)
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va.

Media, Matte Only
Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va.

Ink
Epson UltraChrome HDR
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va.

RIP
ColorBurst RGB XProof
ColorBurst Systems (CSE Inc.), Ashburn, Va.

Dye Sublimation, 5-to-6-inch roll
DNP DS-40
DNP Photo Imaging America Corp., San Marcos, Texas

Dye Sublimation, 8-inch roll
Sony UP-DR80 Digital Photo Printer
Sony Electronics Inc., Park Ridge, N.J.

Black and White, Best Black and White with a color printer
Epson Stylus Pro 7900 using Epson UltraChrome HDR Ink and Tetenal spectra jet Baryt Paper 270g
Tetenal AG & Co. KG, Norderstedt, Germany

Creative Application, Paper
Kodak Metallic using the ZBE Chromira 5x ProLab
ZBE Inc., Carpinteria, Calif.

About DIMA
Exploring the technologies that transform the capture, manipulation, sharing, and preservation of images, the Digital Imaging Marketing Association® (DIMA®) empowers photo retailers, professional and commercial imagers, and photographers to push the boundaries of possibility and drive their entrepreneurial success. DIMA builds on an 86-year legacy of PMA®, the worldwide photo imaging association, by promoting emerging technologies and business innovations throughout the global photo imaging industry. DIMA directs this purpose through the development of education, marketing research, and networking forums, and enables its members to envision and experience successful methods of technology integration yielding improved business practices.

About PMA – The Worldwide Community of Imaging Associations
As a professional trade association, PMA® helps the worldwide photo imaging community achieve business success and adapt to new technologies. Its commitment to members in 100-plus countries is part of an 85-year legacy that connects business owners to a network of knowledge and support. PMA furthers this purpose through the development of educational programs, marketing research, publications, and trade shows. As a not-for-profit organization, any success PMA achieves in its endeavors directly benefits the industry, providing the means to continually develop services and activities for members.

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