Digital BW, The Print

David Kachel <david@...> wrote:
>
> ... about warm tone inks in the Epson 1400. ...

> (... I am in doubt as to what to do about loading ink into
> a syringe after the ink level in the bottles gets below the 
> length of the needle). 

Get a longer needle; use wide top 4 oz. bottles; pour the ink into a small beaker first; use a CIS with a funnel; whatever ...

> ... nozzle check first, .. all the nozzles show complete checks 
> and all the colors are gray.

Good.  You may want to print a purge patter on plain paper to be sure the color at the top of the pattern is the same as at the bottom.  There is usually some residual ink in the heads after the initial switch from color to B&W.

 
> At the time of purchase I did not know about the 
> "bottom fill adaptor" and therefore went ahead without 
> that step. So far it appears to have been unnecessary. 

You're lucky.  It may be that the latest carts are built to avoid the old bubble in the outlet problem.  That would be nice.

> ... you advised the following inks in the following
> positions for maximum warm tone on matte cotton papers:
> 
> K = K4-4-K
> C & M = K4-4-PK
> LC & LM = K4-4-LK
> Y = K4-4-LLK
> 

MIS K4 glossy carbon inks are what I use for my very warm matte and "sepia" glossy printing.

> ... refresh my memory as to the options for
> printing with regard to using Photoshop or QTR, profiles etc. 

> Easiest way,

Try the Epson driver.  You might try one where the printer controls the color handling.  Try Color Controls with gamma 2.2.  Use the highest quality printing options.

I prefer an ICC workflow.  For this you'll need to print with "No Color Adjustment" (with modern software, at least).  For the best printing a Photoshop image adjustment curve is embedded in the ICC.  I probably have some out there somewhere for this type of setup.  The ICCs are made with QTR's Create ICC-RGB.

QTR -- the rip -- is, of course, always the most flexible in terms of being able to control each ink separately, but you really don't need it for simple printing on matte or glossy coated papers with a monotone inkset like this.

I'm a big fan of the Epson 1400 (hopefully the 1430 takes the same profiles) as well as the Epson 1100 for desktop B&W.

Good luck with the system.  Let us know how it works out.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com