The more I read about the relationship of RIPing to photo digi printing the "confusder" I get. When computer page layout programs, ie. Quark XPress were introduced, Adobe invented the Postscript language which described Postscript type fonts and page layouts to Postscript RIPs, creating an extremely accurate "dot-for-dot" page. Graphic designers and pre-press people did not dare use any font, software or harware that was not completely Postscript compatible.

Today's digital repo world seems to hardly ever mention Postscript. My question is: what role (if any) does Postscript play in the current photo RIPing process? Are current RIPs in fact still Postscript? If I only want to print great color photi and don't care about page layout and type accuracy, why do I need a RIP-- Or do I?