Digital BW, The Print

on 8/7/2002 8:43 PM, DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com at
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> From: Truman Prevatt <tprevatt@...>
> Subject: need advice
> 
> I am ready to get a printer. I was waiting to see what happened with the
> 2200, to make the decision. It seems that the 2200 is not a good printer
> for someone who is primarly interested in B&W.  So it's the 1280. Now I
> need to select the inking system. It's boiled down to the MIS hextone
> Variable Mix inks or the Piezo driver and Piezo inks. I do like the
> flexibility of being able to select print coolness based on the subjec,
> what I am trying to say and where it will be displayed. This seems to
> argue for the MIS solution.
> 
> One the other hand I have heard that the Piezo driver produces a
> smoother tonal range. All my images will be scanned 6x7 or 4x5 so the
> tonal range will be there to capture. Is this ture about the Piezo dirver?
> 
> So instead of talking about the merits of imbedded assembly code in a C
> program could someone give me a little help here:-).
> 
> Truman


Truman,

Your post got me to thinking.  I never really liked warm toned prints in the
past, but the Piezo inks came in only one flavor (original piezo inks)
and--I've grown pretty darn used to them--to the point where I actually like
them.

So on a percentage basis, I would say that the "tone" of the photograph, to
me, accounts for about 1-2% of the effectiveness of the image. If the image
works, it works. And I think it will work in MIS FS, MIS FS neutral,
Piezotone warm and Piezotone selenium. Though sepia may be a bit of a
departure here.

That said, I really like the ease of use of the piezo software, and the
speed which it runs my printer as well.  The tonal ramping of the software
is quite good considering that we're spraying 4 densities of ink on paper.
It's the least fuss alternative with the most time getting good prints.

I've seen paul's work with his variable tone curves and it is stunning, but
a bit more work to do.  And it may be a little less of a wysiwyg workflow as
well, I'm not sure. I like paul's prints cool and warm but I do like them
even on the same image, so I can learn to love either when necessary.

Oh yes, you "need advise".  I guess I advise the piezo software, but of
course, it just my opinion.  If you've got the money and time, try em all!
 
-Bruce

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http://home.earthlink.net/~smthopr