Do you take credit cards?
Yes, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Do you have a showroom?
No, we primarily work business-to-business and don't have a showroom. That being said, we do have an office with a demo facility where we can demonstrate many products for you.

Do you sell inkjet papers and inks?
Yes, we sell and stock mostly wide format Epson papers but also sell some non-Epson papers. We also sell and stock most of the wide format Epson inks.

If you don't stock a particular paper that we use, will you stock it for us?
Yes, if you agree to buy the product from us and buy sufficient quantity to justify stocking it on our shelves.

Do you come to our location to help us with our color problems?
Yes, we will come to your location to help you achieve consistent, predictable color.

Do you do monitor calibration?
Yes, we can, but since monitors drift over a short period of time, we advise you purchase a monitor calibration kit and training from us so you can calibrate your monitors on a regular basis.

Can you profile my printer?
Yes we can. Some situations require us to come onsite (i.e. where a RIP is involved that requires ink limits and linearization be set first), but many situations can be handled through the mail. We can provide you with a target to print and you just mail it to us.

How do I know if my printer is printing color accurately?
As the old color adage goes, "calibration, calibration and more calibration" (and a little knowledge of color management and print settings). Ideally, you should have a calibrated monitor and ICC profiles made for the particular printer and paper you are using. You also must know the correct print settings in the application you are printing from.

The most basic determination if your printer is printing accurate color is if the RGB images coming out of your printer closely match the RGB images on your monitor. This assumes that you have a calibrated monitor. CRT and LCD displays should be calibrated at least every month. They must be calibrated using industry standard settings of 2.2 gamma and 6500K white point. If your printed images look like those on your monitor, your printer is probably printing at least fairly accurate color. Please note that you will need a RIP to be able to print CMYK images accurately.

Alder has an RGB digital test file, and printed hard copy of that file, that you can use as a reference to make sure you are printing to industry standards. When you are doing CMYK proofing this becomes a bit more complex. Alder has a CMYK digital test file, and printed hard copy of that CMYK file, that you can use as a reference to make sure you are printing to CMYK industry standards, but remember CMYK requires a RIP to insure accuracy.

Our color experts can guide you through the maze of ICC profiles, calibration and color settings to make sure you are getting accurate color from your printer. We can help you calibrate your monitor and make custom ICC profiles for your ink and paper combinations when necessary. Just give us a call and we are glad to help.

What is a RIP and do I need one to produce accurate color?
RIP stands for Raster Image Processor. The most basic function of a RIP is to interpret Postscript files so that they can be output on an imaging device. This can be an inkjet printer, a film output device, or a platesetter. Postscript is used by applications like InDesign, Quark and Illustrator to describe the page (art) that has been created. These applications can contain raster images, which are made of pixels, and vector art, which are mathematical descriptions of what has been created. You can output raster RGB images using applications like Photoshop to printers directly using the drivers from the printer manufacture. You must use a RIP if you are printing vector data or CMYK images and want consistent accuracy.

There are many RIP manufactures on the market with a wide range of features and pricing. Alder is up to date on all the latest RIPs on the market and can help you select the correct RIP for your needs.

Can you advise me on what inkjet papers are best for my needs?
At Alder we work with printers, designers and photographers everyday. We have worked with most of the current papers on the market from all the major manufactures. We can tell you what papers work with what ink sets. We have researched theses papers and know which are appropriate for proofing, color accurate mock-ups, fine art reproduction, and photographic uses. We can navigate through optical brighters, archival properties, dye and pigment inks, and any other buzzwords out there.