Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Sören Lindqvist 
<soren.lindqvist@t...> wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
>  
> 
> With an 7500 dedicated for BW inkset, what kind of inkset should I 
use?
> 
> Printing only on Fine Art Paper (90%). Is the MIS 7600 something 
to wait
> for? There seems to be so many combinations out there so I getting 
a
> little confused what would be the best for archival and dmax. What
> inkset should I invest in? Any suggestions for a good start?
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks
> 
Hello Soren;

I'm no expert at this, butI too am just now setting up a 7500 for 
B&W fine art printing, so I'll share my thoughts on the subject.

 The question you need to answer before deciding on inks, is how are 
you going to control them? In order to get good results you need ONE 
of the following: A driver specially designed for B&W four or six 
ink printing, a set of partitioned workflow curves and the inkset to 
go with it, or a custom mixed set of inks that match your printer 
well enough to use the Epson driver without the partitioned curves. 

Option 1) The specialized software almost certainly gives the best 
results, but particularly at this size, is very expensive. There are 
two available, ImagePrint 5, and Sundance R9, and both cost 
$1500.00. ImagePrint 5 works well with color as well, but Sundance 
creates a finer smoother dithering pattern, and also allows you to 
use any smaller Epson printers with it. Both are protected by 
a 'dongle', so you can't even 'try before you buy'.

The partitioned workflow approach: When it works well, it works very 
well also, but as far as I know,  there is only a set of curves 
available for the MIS VM inks and the 7000, which may work for the 
7500. Many people have had good success with those on the four ink 
machines, but the 6-ink machines, mostly the 1280 not quite as good, 
and I have heard no feedback at all about the 7x and VM combination. 
Perhaps if someone is using that setup they could jump in and report?
 
I have been using a 1280 with my own dilution of inks, and it has 
worked very well. I have done the same for the 7500, and am getting 
quite acceptable results, using Epson Archival Black (drawn out of a 
7500 cartridge and diluted with clear Epson base stock) for the gray 
positions, and the new Cone Museum K for black. The ink density is 
adjusted so that I get a good tonal range with a simple workflow. 
While this is OK for an inexpensive  temporary fix and I would be 
happy to pass on to you or anyone else my dilutions and settings, I 
feel I need better control of the way the machine lays down the 
black ink, (more at the 98-100% point and less higher up the scale) 
and a finer (or less visible)dithering or'microweave' pattern. So 
unless something less expensive comes along, I'll probably go with 
the Sundance, and my own choice of inks, not theirs.

There is one other possiblity cropping up, that is in the 
development phase: something called Gimp-print, which is a Linux-
Unix-Mac OS X printing utilty. There is a 'beta' version of it that 
allows individual control of each ink channel, and the microweave 
pattern. However trying it out requires programming skills I don't 
have, and either the Linux or Mac 10.2.3 operating systems. If 
that's of interest check the recent threads on this forum referring 
to Gimp-print, it's an on-going discussion at the moment.

So the bottom line for me has been: if you can't afford one of the 
above software packages, mix your own inks, or if the variable tone 
of the VM set is a strong draw for you, try the MIS VM set with the 
partitioned workflow. The weak point of that ink set it that the 
inks 'warm up'noticeably over the first few weeks; Paul Roark, who 
developed them, is currently working on a VM set based on new, more 
stable inks that sound very promising. So I for one am going to work 
my way through the first load of my own inks, and re-evaluate in 2-3 
weeks. If the new VM set is ready to go I might try that, but most 
likely I'll try one of the other new inks in my own dilution for now.

Hope this helps,

Steve K

http://www.stevekphoto.com