Digital BW, The Print

Tyler wrote, in part:

>...
>The 3000 is still sold by Epson, the longest running model,...
> It is, in many ways, the ideal traditional quad printer.
>Four inks, great density, and larger print sizes than the
>desktop models. It's a workhorse. ...

>Any good workflow with the Piezo driver, the Epson driver,
>or a RIP, will yield beautiful dotless prints from the 3000.

I generally agree with this.  However, every inkjet printer, by its nature,
has dots.  To me, it's a question of whether the dots or dither pattern are
visible or have any visible impact on the images.  I obviously have decided
that, at least for my type of printing, they do not.  However, these
printers are not perfect.

>This assumes a traditional quad ink set, not something
>like the MIS VM's, or color inks. If you see dots
>with quad prints, you need a better workflow.

Although in theory I think I could argue that the more gray shades of ink
the better, in practice there are greatly diminishing returns to more
different shades.  Note that the Piezo system only uses 4 shades even in the
hextone printers.  I didn't start to experiment with a variable-tone inkset
until Jon Cone expressed his opinion in a posting that only 3 shades are
really needed to make a smooth print, and I agree with this.

That said, it is true that some do see the bluish dots in the highlights of
the MIS VM neutral and cool prints done with quadtone printers (not
hextones).  I never felt they were a problem in actual prints and at normal
viewing distance with my 1160, but I suppose those who are more
dot-sensitive would be bothered by the bluish toner dots of the MIS VM
inkset in 3000 highlights.

I use the vm-sepia inkset in my 3000 for a number of reasons.  One is that
the neutral curve does not put any toner in the highlights, and it is the
color contrast of the toner dots that make them visible to some people.  The
ink that is in the vm-s neutral-tone highlights is just gray ink and has a
relative density of 38%, as opposed to the Piezo/FS lightest gray ink
density of 33%.  I don't beleive anyone can tell the difference between the
highlights printed with these two density inks.  Since my neutral landscape
prints are the most likely places where dots would be a problem, the vm-s
inkset gives me the variability without dots where they will most likely be
seen.

With the sepia or warmer tones, there is obviously toner in the highlights.
However, the toner dots have never been what I see as a limiting factor.  I
am not aware of them at all.  My sense is that the sepia toner dots are not
as visible as the bluish dots of the standard vm inkset.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com