Interesting piece of information..
It brings up a few questions as to WHY they have decided to go digital.. i know its easier and ive always known that you cant recreate an original effect if using the original postives. The 2 main players for playfield restoration used the same silk screen outlet ( so i was told).. whether this "company" is no longer producing or its a move by the end seller to reduce costs is yet to be seen. Possibly this is a trial to see if the end result will be accepted, i certainly hope so.
Those that have access to the original postives are in a very fortunate postion.. its a position that many would love to be in but have no chance of ever getting. To try and cut costs by another method is really a huge piss take.
There are a few other outlets for playfields and backglasses, none of which have access to the original positives... ALL redraw using a sample sought from a source.. a 10/10 backglass can be scanned and then redrawn, reproduced and then sold. Problem is that the redrawing part is pretty much a labour of love.. hours and hours of work which is hard to charge for as it blows the cost of the end product out. For IPB to do this really is a kick in the teeth for pinball restorers, i hope they drop the whole idea..OR.. pay for it to be redrawn so it can be digitally printed and offer a product that is up to scratch... it can be done by either method well so long as the postive or file is compatible, it cant be done by mix matching as had been said in the original post.
My personal take is that IPB are looking for a short cut.. i hope it bites them in the arse hard. reputations take years to achieve but only a minute to lose. There is no reason to take this path with a non digital backglass other than to cut production costs.. UNLESS it is completely redrawn preferrably by Adobe Illustrator and then reproduced.. this would give perfect results.
