Under a lupe, the inkjet output dots were much
bleedier, fuzzy and imprecise. Imagesetter output was
crystalline. Maybe inkjet technology will improve to this
level someday, but it ain't there yet.
Hi, I don't think the inkjet technology will "improve" to that level at all
because cripiness is not necessary an "improvement" in inkjet printing. The
goal of inkjet printer and that of an imagesetter are different, if not
opposite. The goal of an imagesetter is to make crisp-dot films because the
film is used to make offset plates, and the plates are used to make prints.
The dots on the film must be crisp because the plates must print binary
(pure ink or no ink), and midtones are simulated by the number of dots and
how close they are.
The goal of inkjet printers is different. The print is the final product
(except that we alt-photo printers used it creatively and differently, but
the manufacturers are thinking mostly about general public that use the
printers). Here the goal is still to produce a nice, smooth-looking print,
but the way to achieve it does not have to be through crisp dots only. There
are other ways, one is through different tones of the inks; another way is
through different sizes of the dots. Both of these methods create dots that
are "less crisp" in a binary sense but they both can produce very nice
prints.
Dave