Digital BW, The Print

"photoarts@..." <photoarts@...> wrote:
>
> I have a question about the Epson 1400 with the eboni pigment ink. Does this combination offer B&W of more quality that other more professional printers like the Epson r2880 or Epson 3880?


If by "Eboni" you mean a single black only channel, then it would  not be as smooth as the full 2880 or 3880 prints at their best quality, particularly if there were areas of smooth sky. Even the 1.5 picoliter drop of  the 1400 is not up to the best image quality if only one channel is used.  Small small, high contrast, or other types  of  images  may hide the quality limitations  of the  single channel  black only printing, however.

If by "Eboni" you mean the full Eboni-6 inkset, or even the Eboni-4 that I use in the 1400 (using the 2 other positions for a neutral glossy ink like the Noritsu-Epson advanced dyes), then I'd say the Eboni-based inks are smoother.

In any case, the Eboni inks will be more lightfast, with no differential fading or color shifts and no metamerism.  The Eboni inks will  also be much less expensive.  Of course, the Eboni inks will not print on glossy paper and the tones will be limited since the Eboni inks are 100% carbon.

So, the issue depends on what Eboni approach you're thinking of and how you define "quality."  I think Eboni/Carbon-6 (or even 4 channels) gives me better quality that can be obtained with Epson inks when my target is a fine art display print.

Eboni almost never clogs in the 1400. The 1400 is the best printer in that regard I've ever had, and dilute eboni is the best ink in that regard that I've ever used in any printer (though I have high hopes for the Noritsu-Epson dyes with regard to clogging also -- we'll see).

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com