Digital BW, The Print

I have an Epson 7000 using a Mac OS and several  questions:

#1 Can I switch inks from the Epson generic inks to the MIS VM inks 
with impunity and without fear of a ink jet clog that will ruin my 
machine. I assume I can do this without the purge cartridges. Can 
people confirm this so I can sleep the night before I switch ink 
sets. Has anyone gotten a clog in this change that cannot be cleared?

#2 After installation of the MIS inks, can they be later switched to 
the Cone inkset if needed or even later be switched back to the Epson 
inkset? Again is any sort of purging needed in changing these inksets.

#3   Mike Kravit wrote on Wednesday that:
With respect to the comparison I made to Nij in my last post I feel
it only fair to say that after using both systems for 2 months I have
decided to use the Piezography BW24Pro RIP as my primary system of
choice. Mike, Does this mean that you are  dedicating your  machine 
to the Cone system and not using the MIS inks at all. You also said 
something about the Cone system having the feel of a platinum: ( I 
like the "platinum like" feel that I get with Piezo.) What did you 
mean by this for my Cone inks on my 3000 are  very cool and not warm 
like you would expect with platinum.

#4 Why did Cone go to a RIP in this process and not go through the 
printer driver directly making their system much more affordable? I 
believe their software for the RIP runs some $2500 which is not 
cheap. What advantage does the RIP serve. Mike: can you see the 
difference in the prints between the Cone and the MIS in terms of 
sharpness, dot or tonality.

#5 I am a former platinum printer and I definitely favor the 
brown/sepia tone evident in platinum to the cooler silver gelatine. I 
would like to choose an inkset and system that prints on the warmer 
side using an Epson 7000. What is my best bet at this point?

Stephen Harrison



>--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., butchhul@a... wrote:
>>  Greetings,
>>  Of those out there working with the 7000, is there anyone who
>>  has been working on a Mac platform and using the MIS
>Variable
>
>  > tone inks?
>I have a 7000, and I just tried the VM inks with their CFS. I know
>Rick Murai is in the midst of it too. We are both on Macs; Mike
>Kravit is on a PC.
>
>Paul wrote the 7000 curves based on a PC. I was able to mess
>with his existing curves pretty easily to get it to match my monitor,
>although I will say, it's about the most UN-intuitive way of working
>that I've ever seen. Paul also seems to be interested and helpful
>toward getting Mac users up to speed.
>
>In short, my issues were not with lack of black, but with air in the
>lines. Once I got to Bob on the phone, he was responsive and
>helpful, but he too was stumped. I seem to be the only one
>having this problem:
>
>http://marktucker.com/epson/air.html
>
>For that one day when it was working properly, the prints had an
>overall look of VERY long tonal range; many greys. But no real
>punchy black, like my MIS color dyes had just shown. But again, I
>still don't think I'd found the ultimate curve. (But Rick's response
>is: even when he prints a chip that's 100% black, it's still not very
>rich. I might concur with that. His is based on actual
>measurements; mine is based on gut feeling). The color/tone
>was very neutral though, which was pleasing. It just that the
>overall look wasn't very "exciting"; it didn't really move me very
>much.
>
>So I've gone back to the MIS color dyes. Just for the air factor
>alone. Ironically, when I reinserted the 9000 carts with the dye,
>the air went away immediately. So go figure. And it's a relatively
>new 7000, so the septums are in good shape.
>
>As far as the Piezo avenue, there's just no way I'd buy a whole
>other computer, and a PC with it's learning curve, just to run the
>printer. It's just not an option. But I will say, and agreeing with
>Tyler, you guys can bitch-and-moan about JCone's prices, but he
>went the extra mile (and I mean EXTRA mile), to make sure that
>the software was there, and you spent your time printing
>photographs, rather than grey wedges. His deal is about as
>plug'n'play is it gets; I had it with my old 3000, and I still would
>have it, but the 3000's paper advance mechanism just wasn't up
>to snuff. Maybe it was just my particular 3000, but the banding
>was always there.
>
>I might let the look-and-feel of your own particular images dictate
>whether you'd do the VM route; if your images are long-scale and
>delicate, and you're willing to futz around with the technical side
>some, you might pursue it. If your images are more bold, or
>contrasty, or snappy, I might shy away from it.
>
>Also, I sometimes tone pretty warm, and the warmest of the
>warms with VM is still pretty neutral. So just know that the gamut
>is pretty narrow, compared to toning with color inks. For warm,
>think "old Portriga 111".
>
>Mark Tucker, http://marktucker.com
>
>
>
>
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