World`s first fine art digital printer Nash creates new originals with Epson Stylus Pro 9000

When Dreamworks SKG needed art reproduction props for a film in production, the studio behind movies like "Saving Private Ryan" sought out California-based fine art digital printmaker Nash Editions, the world`s first fine art digital printmaking studio.

"I thought the Dreamworks movie was the perfect assignment for the EPSON Stylus Pro 9000 wide-format colour ink jet printer," says operations manager and digital specialist Mac Holbert, who co-founded Nash Editions in 1990 with rock star Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame. "As it turned out, the printer worked brilliantly," says Holbert, a former tour manager for his partner`s group. "We delivered large canvas prints to Dreamworks that were exact reproductions of the paintings needed for filming.

Tim Finch, sales marketing director at Colour Corporate, a local distributor of the EPSON Stylus Pro 9000, says it is an ideal choice for professional photography and fine art houses like Nash Editions, in-house corporate graphics departments and repro houses, looking for true-to-life reproduction on all media. He stresses that it is also competitively priced in the wide-format digital printer market.

Nash editions was impressed when it first connected the EPSON Stylus Pro 9000 wide-format colour ink jet. "The ease of working with this machine is key to us, to be able to walk into the studio in the morning, press a button for three seconds, and within two minutes, the cleaning cycle is finished, and its ready to start printing astonishing photo-quality output at some of the fastest speeds in the industry," says Holbert. " Coming from an IRIS background, we found it revolutionary."

Nash Editions also recently used the printer for a series of anaglyphic stereo lithographs, 44- by 66-inch monochrome prints, for the National Stereoscopic Association`s national convention. Because the fine art digital printmaker is often asked to print on alternate substrates, versatile paper handling is a big plus for Nash editions.

"I can also install two rolls of paper at a time in the printer, such as proofing paper or thick, luscious watercolour paper," says Holbert. With a straight-through paper path, the printer handles paper up to 44 inches wide on media as thick as 1.5mm posterboard.

With the beautiful photo quality of the EPSON prints, Nash editions is blending the sensibilities of traditional fine art printmaking with the world of digital imaging. "We`re trying to create the atmosphere where people will start to look at the EPSON and the computer as just another paintbrush to create great art," says Holbert.