RAW vs EMF format for high-res digital images

[Douglas Laudenschlager]

MY QUESTION
If I change RAW to EMF format to spool high resolution digital images from
PhotoShop to a photo printer, in order to take advantage of the print server
and free up my desktop computer, will the output quality of the images
suffer?

BACKGROUND
I understand that Windows basically uses 1 of 2 formats to spool images to a
printer: EMF (the more efficient) or RAW. I see that both the printers we
have installed on various Windows XP Pro computers here are set to RAW by
default. I also understand that EMF gets spooled to a print server for
processing (if there is a print server), while RAW is processed on the
client machine.

SCENARIO
I am setting up a print server for a photographer who prints high-resolution
images to his Epson 2200 that may lock up the client machine for as long as
a half-hour per image. However the print server won't help if RAW images are
still processed entirely on the client. I'm trying to understand what my
options are here!

Thank you!

 

[Carey Gregory]

MY QUESTION
If I change RAW to EMF format to spool high resolution digital images from
PhotoShop to a photo printer, in order to take advantage of the print server
and free up my desktop computer, will the output quality of the images
suffer?

Shouldn't make a difference.

BACKGROUND
I understand that Windows basically uses 1 of 2 formats to spool images to a
printer: EMF (the more efficient) or RAW. I see that both the printers we
have installed on various Windows XP Pro computers here are set to RAW by
default. I also understand that EMF gets spooled to a print server for
processing (if there is a print server), while RAW is processed on the
client machine.

There are several factors that determine whether RAW or EMF data is spooled
to a print server. For example:

- EMF is spooled to servers only if the server OS matches the client OS.
If EMF is spooled to the server, it will be rendered into raw printer data
by the driver on the server. If it is spooled as RAW data, it's being
rendered on the client machine.

- Some applications specify a data type in their call to StartDoc. Windows
will spool RAW data if the application specifies anything other than "EMF"
(or a null pointer) in its call to StartDoc.

SCENARIO
I am setting up a print server for a photographer who prints high-resolution
images to his Epson 2200 that may lock up the client machine for as long as
a half-hour per image. However the print server won't help if RAW images are
still processed entirely on the client. I'm trying to understand what my
options are here!

Why would it lock up the machine? A big print job might slow things down a
bit, but it shouldn't lock up the machine or the application regardless of
whether it's spooling RAW or EMF. Are you sure this app isn't rendering its
own output and bypassing the spooler completely? If that's the case,
nothing you do to Windows will help.