Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "antonisphoto" 
> Mark,
> yeah.... I am there! I got the 2200 and already put some PRag 
through and 
> now looking at profiling. What worked for you? Did you brew 
your own or do 
> you have a favorite source for profiles?


Honestly, I have not even done a custom profile yet because I'm 
still searching for the right paper with these new Ultrachromes 
and matteblack. Museo does not work well; it has a weak black. 
PhotoRag is very very nice. BrightCubeEclipse Satine is even 
better and heavier, but they have potential longterm business 
problems maybe. PhotoRag is also a bit thin for my taste too, 
especially in big sizes. So, as a result, I have not found my paper 
yet. 

But for PhotoRag and BrightCubeE, i have used the canned 
Epson "Enhanced Matte MK" profile, and it works quite well. I'd 
start there. At 1440, with hispeed off, and supermicroweave off. 
And of course, No color Adjustment. And also enhanced Matte 
Media Setting.


> The main problem with the 2200 out of the box is that when you 
print a straight 
> grayscale converted to bw, no matter what you do in the color 
managment, the 
> 90-100% dives hopelessly into black.


Yes. I agree. This is a common shortcoming of the Epson driver. 
The linearization part of the profiling process will help that. As 
will the final profile. It's still tough though. This issue is the 
Achilles Heel of Epson inkjet in my eyes.


> Have you tried ImagePrint with the 9600?

No, very curious though. I'm watching Quentin and Jim Belec and 
Jan try it out on their machines now, on the 9000 list. For once in 
my life, I don't want to be the guinea pig who blows his money. 
Also at $2500 for the 9600 version, it would take quite a bit of 
improvement for me to leap at it. Plus, I hear the Mac interface is 
pretty clunky. Also, at some point, the Epson Money Pit Syndrome 
*must* stop. I feel like Tom Hanks in that Shelley Long movie; 
same is true if you ever own a boat.


> 
> Thanks very much for sharing the details of your workflow. As a 
token of 
> appreciation, here is a big jar of Mylanta...


I must change my lifestyle. I'm 43, and if I don't do something 
now, I'll turn into my father:

http://marktucker.com/adv/daddy.html

Good luck. I'm sure the 2200 is a great printer. And for the record, 
I'm with Andrew about the GreyBalancer. Just get a good profile 
and start printing. It's not that hard.

MT