On Point: The Cansel Blog

I had a conversation with a customer earlier this week around the topic of file types and more specifically, legacy file formats.

The de facto native file format in the engineering design industry is HPGL/2, and the standard for platform-independent raster file interchange is most commonly PDF and less commonly TIFF. PDF is the only file format that is constantly in development and supported both backwards and forwards by Adobe.

When we speak of standards through the lens of file formats, "standards" mean generally accepted and best industry practices using tools that are current and supported.

Hewlett Packard recently refreshed its DesignJet lineup of printers, and with that, introduced the all new XT950 as the next generation of the beloved T830 MFP.

You might be thinking to yourself "What could possibly be different?" or, "Oh, it's probably just a different colour or something", but you’d be far from the truth.

DesignJet XT950 is a complete rethink on the concept of an entry-level MFP device. Let's look at some of the differences in more detail.

Today, we're going to talk about the crossover tool that turns our analog documents into digital ones that we can then store in the cloud, email or re‐work for new purposes. We're going to look at wide format scanners and what you really need to know about them before deciding what kind to buy. Now, I'm not going to steer you into any particular brand or model because, frankly, we carry them all here at Cansel, but I do want to educate you on HOW to choose a technology.

Wide format scanners are divided into two major technologies: CIS which stands for Contact Image Sensor, and CCD which stands for Charged Coupled Device.

The choice between a CIS scanning technology and a CCD technology is largely based on the type of documents that you, the client, wish to scan.

No, we won’t be exploring the poetry of Elizabeth Barret Browning in this issue, but I did exercise a bit of artistic license when titling this piece.

Back in June, I wrote an article on the arguably dry topic of "drivers". Bear with me and I promise I won't put you to sleep again, folks. I may actually give you some insight into using your wide format printer in a way that may free up engineering and architectural design talent to do their thing, as opposed to attending to the mundane task of printing.

In most cases, there are three ways to print to a wide format printer. The most common way is with the printer driver, but this can be a technical task more suited to technical people because of all the myriad settings that can be chosen from.

Recognize this scenario?

"Daaaaaaaaaad, Mooooooooooom, I have a project due tomorrow and the printer is acting funnyyyyyyyy!"

And so down the hall we trudge with our head held down, knowing ahead of time what the problem is. As suspected, it's the cursed MAGENTA cartridge that is dry once again, necessitating an unplanned trip to Staples for a new one. You get home, pull out the old one to replace it, and then,  if we're truly environmental thugs, the old empty one most probably gets tossed in the garbage. But the more likely scenario is that we drop it into the blue box for recycling and go about feeling good about our environmental stewardship.

Right? Wrong again!

As I sat down to write this article, I came to the embarrassing epiphany that I’ve been working in the wide format industry for over 30 years. THAT’S A LONG TIME!!!

I’ve worked through the heyday of diazo reproduction and witnessed its decline and demise with the introduction of the first plain paper copiers which were analog at the time.  Then along came digital printing and plotting and things snowballed to where we are today.

But through it all, even back in the days of diazo contact printing, there was always the whisper and warning of the paperless office that threatened to eliminate in one fell swoop the need for printing. But remember, that was 30 years ago!

Back in January, I wrote an article on the subject of printer security and how printers can be compromised by hackers to gain access to your network and to all the information that you would rather not exist in the public domain.

What I outlined was an elaborate scheme that, perhaps, a subset of the population may dismiss as highly unlikely.

So what if I outlined something even simpler this time around? And what if I told you that this was happening today and that a major printer manufacturer has issued a warning about it?

No one likes to talk about it but disasters happen. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, fires and all manner of natural and man-made tragedies disrupt or cost lives and destroy infrastructure. After the dust clears, the heavy burden of rebuilding is dropped squarely on the shoulders of the engineering and construction community. There is a technology and a process that has been refining itself for over two decades that permits designers and stakeholders in structure and infrastructure projects to factor disaster mitigation into the basic design.

Resolution. For most people, I think, it's something we make at New Year's and promptly drop by the wayside in late January or so.

But in the wide world of print, resolution means something completely different. The resolution on the printed page is measured in dots per inch or DPI. On a digital screen or scanner, they're measured as PPI or pixels per inch, and they relate to one another with very little difference.

This time around, let's explore that venerable piece of software that allows brilliant software packages like AutoCAD, MS Office, and Photoshop to speak to our wide format devices and, indeed, any printer we have.