Digital BW, The Print

"peter843" <yahoogroups@...> wrote:



>

> I'm thinking of getting a 1400 for just B&W printing. 
> I thought I would start off with BO printing using one ink.
> 
> The MIS BO kit -- 
> http://www.inksupply.com/refill_cart.cfm?oem_cart=EPS-T0791&printerID=512  --
> contains one bottle of ink and six empty cartridges.
> Does each cartridge have to be filled with ink?


> I've been reading about different options for several days 
> and I find it confusing. 

There are a number of options, and it can be confusing.  I have the MIS optioins I've been involved with listed at 
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Inkset-list.html

> I was thinking of starting with Eb6 but I don't understand the need
for 5 dilutions unless it is simply to fill each cartridge.

Printing with only a single ink can look very good for many images, assuming the printer is a good one.  With a single ink, however, smooth areas of the print may be a little rougher -- more grainy -- than you'd like.  The dilute inks allow very smooth printing, with no visible dots at all.

One thing to consider is whether you want to print on matte paper or glossy.  The Eboni inks are matte only.  With an inkset like MIS UT14, you can print on either type without changing inks.  You also have control of image tones -- cool to warm.  Eboni-6, like all monotone inksets, can print a narrower range of tones based on what paper you choose.

The Eb1400 that Sylvain mentions and I use now is written up at 
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eb1400.pdf

MIS does not directly support this inkset because I use a Hewlett Packard Z3100/3200 Vivera photo black ink in  it.  This gives me the smooth matte printing of Eboni-6 but also the ability to control matte print tones as well as print neutral glossy prints with a simple black only type of curve, using QuadToneRip.  While it's a relatively easy inkset to put together, MIS does not sell it as a kit.


> I thought it would be simpler to start off with just one ink 
> but if that means filling 6 cartridges with the same ink then 
> that doesn't make sense to me either.

One ink is easier in some respects, but not others.  The Epson driver does not support black only printing.  So, while QuadToneRip -- 
http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRoverview.html -- 
is an outstanding product, it's one more thing to learn before you'll actually get good results.

So, what I recommend is that people start with an inkset that allows them to simply use the Epson driver.  Then you can work your way down the learning curve one step at a time.  Eboni-6 as well as UT14 use this approach.  The general, one step at a time approach is written up in http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eb1400.pdf starting at page 3.

Note that if you start with Eboni-6 you can easily add the HP PK neutral glossy ink later.

Note also with all black only approaches that some printers do well with it while others may show some microbanding.  Multiple inks hide the defects of printers.  At the prices we pay for these printers, don't expect perfection in every one and every ink position.  For example, my 1400 can print an essentially perfect black only with the HP PK in the Cyan position (at home, but not at 10,000 feet in the Sierras, I discovered this year), but when I tried the HP PK in the yellow position, the printer showed microbanding.  I think the 1400 is the best value and an excellent printer, but these machines are not perfect.

Good luck with the B&W. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/