Digital BW, The Print

Martin,


My hope is that through the efforts of Paul, Dan, and the many others 
that I have not mentioned from this list, that these alternative inks 
will gain popularity and thus increase the market to the point that 
the manufacturers are willing to invest the time and money to offer 
these curves. I thought of the Piezo B/W but shyed away due to the 
cost, the banding problems, the tone of the inks, nozzle plugging, 
etc... 

The Piezo system is the way to go for someone looking at getting into 
this, but you do pay for it, both in the cost of the inks, as well as 
the software, and as Henry said (with a little modification on my 
part) "Any tone you want as long as it is warm". 

My thinking when I first came across the curves and inks that Paul 
helped develop was "at this price, I wouldn't be out much if it 
didn't work" - that is when I took the plunge. I am no expert, but 
felt confident that I could apply some curves and print. I am now 
glad that I did.

Maybe at this point it would help to think of yourself as one of the 
great pioneers that will help make it possible for the masses <g> 
after all, you are the co list owner that has already helped get much 
of this info out there!

Terry

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., mwesley250@e... wrote:
> Terry,
> 
> I am afraid you are right. It is a "we sell the materials and it is 
> up to you to figure out how to use them" approach. There is nothing 
> wrong with that if honestly communicated and given the size of the 
> market even understandable.
> 
> It sort of comes down to the old chicken or the egg. They don't 
> support the software end because the market is too small and the 
> market does indeed stay small. It seems like there are a lot of 
> questions about how to get started in quad printing from people who 
> have very little knowledge in the area and, as Mark Tucker said in 
an 
> earlier post, they are likely to buy something assuming there is 
some 
> support when there isn't. When this occurs it is bad for everyone.
> 
> Hopefully as the market and interest does grow someone will take an 
> interest in the software side and customize an existing profiling 
> package specifically for quad inks.
> 
> Thanks,
> Martin
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "TerryR" 
<terryr1028@h...> 
> wrote:
> > Martin,
> > 
> > 
> > I really think the only reason that Inkjetmall offered the free 
> > profiles was to generate interest in the ink prior to developing 
> the 
> > software that they intended to sell. Some manufacturers will 
offer 
> > profiles usually with their brand of paper along with the ink, 
but 
> > most choose not to for a good reason. Many potential buyers do 
not 
> > yet understand how to utilize and apply the profiles which 
results 
> in 
> > great expense to support the profiles. The Enhanced Generations 
and 
> > MIS archival inks have done exceptionally well even though there 
> are 
> > no profiles available.
> > 
> > Curves are a whole different ball of wax, even Cone makes you pay 
> for 
> > them with the Piezo B/W software. Paul Roark has probably done 
more 
> > than anyone out there to help promote and generate interest in a 
> > product that he does not even sell. I think that maybe with the 
> > quads, many manufacturers treat the inks as paints if you will, 
> > allowing the artist to utilize them in the way that they see fit. 
> The 
> > quad market is still relatively small and the attitude is that 
the 
> > users that are interested are much more advanced.
> > 
> > There are a few companies that sell ink and paper that will offer 
> > generic curves just to get someone interested in the products. I 
> > guess that is just the nature of the market so to speak. I 
believe 
> > that most companies will shy away from offering free curves, 
etc... 
> > until the "novice" user can utilize them with little to no 
> problems. 
> > The vast majority of desktop users either do not have the tools, 
> > time, or inclination to want to go that deep. Once there is an 
> easier 
> > way, maybe even at the O/S level, more interest will be shown by 
> the 
> > manufacturers.
> > 
> > Terry
> > 
> (snip)