Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Mac Holbert
Greg Gorman introduced me to Mac Holbert; however, I knew about Mac
and his work with Nash Editions years prior to our introduction. Nash
Editions has been known as the premier fine art print ink-jet print house
dating back to 1989 when Graham Nash needed a way to output his dig-
itally manipulated B&W images. Mac and Graham pushed the envelope
of what could be achieved on ink-jet printers. In the early days at Nash
Editions, this was produced on expensive Iris ink-jet printers. It didn't
take long for some of the best known photographers and artists to bust
down the door at Nash Editions to get their images output on this new
medium. The clientele at Nash Editions continually demanded the most
accurate color matching possible forcing Mac to embrace color manage-
ment. Nash Editions today continues to produce stunning fine art ink-jet
output along with other digital imaging services geared to the most
demanding user. The Nash Editions web site is at http://www.nashedi
tions.com/.
In Mac Holbert's Words
In 1989, I, along with my partner Graham Nash, founded Nash Editions,
a digital fine art printmaking facility. In those days color management
consisted of depending upon your service bureau to provide you with a
color balanced file. We would send a 4≤¥5≤ or 8≤¥10≤ transparency
out to be scanned and a week later the finished scan was delivered on a
1
/
4
≤ reel-to-reel tape. This was loaded into a tape reader that was con-
nected directly to an IRIS 3047 printer. The data was then streamed to
the printer and the image was sprayed onto paper attached to a rotating
drum. We did not use a monitor. We began with a set of default density
and contrast settings on the printer, which usually got us in the ballpark.
Once the first proof was completed you had a visual with which you
could deduce the appropriate corrections. The printer was the source of
the alterations. The image data itself remained untouched. It was not
unusual for this process to take 10 or more proofs. Not a great business
model.
In fall of 1991 we acquired a Mac II FX, a color monitor and a copy
of Photoshop. Now we were able to display an image on screen prior to
sending it to the printer. This development was not the panacea we were
hoping for. The IRIS required CMYK data and what the screen displayed
bore absolutely no resemblance to the final printed image. The one
advancement it did provide was moving the control from the printer to
the computer. The printer could now be a default device and any and all
corrections were performed on the data itself. By 1994 we determined
that the CMYK data we were getting from the service bureau was fine
for coated papers but was inappropriate for the watercolor papers we
preferred.
