Digital BW, The Print

Colin,

>...
>I have another 1160 which...
> On my list were Paul's/MIS's Ultratones with a bulk feed system. ...
>... I was then out off by Jerry Olsen's clogging, although it may
>have been his CIS/CFS.

What MIS has found is that if Eboni black (a very "high load" pigment ink)
is mixed with dye ink, the viscosity goes way up -- it will not print.  I
think if there was some Gen 4 Enhanced black (25% dye) in a CIS/CFS before
the Eboni was added, the system would clog.

So, when switching to Ultra Tone B&W ink with Eboni black, one must use a
new CIS/CFS cartridge.  In large format printers that have had any dye in
the black, the system must be flushed.

> Now Paul is casting doubts on the Ultratones as a quad
>set suggesting that a hex set would be better.

With the standard MIS VM inkset some also preferred hextone printing.  Some
are able to see the toner dots in the highlights.  I personally never found
it to be a problems.  However, with RC papers the contrast is higher and
paper sharper.  Artifacts will stand out more.  As with the quad dots, those
who are perfectionists will see more defects in their test strips than they
did with matte paper.  Most people viewing real photos will not notice the
problems.

>Q1	Is anyone having frustrating clogging issues (my MIS FSN only
>very occasionally clogs but has never been a real problem, unlike the
>original Cone inks)?

I'd also be curious about this.  I've gotten to the point where I don't even
run nozzle checks on my 7500 with Ultra Tones if it's only been sitting for
a week.  With the non-co-solvent base, there should be fewer clogs with the
Ultra Tones.

>Q2	Is anyone dissatisfied with the Ultratones on an 1160 and
>Paul, what do you perceive to be the improvements that I would expect
>in buying another 1290?

The 1290 will print smoother than an 1160.  Part of this improvement is the
lack of any dots in the highlights from the toner.  Part of the improvement
is smoother shadow tones.

New curves can make some improvement in the 1160 output.  I can push the
cyan dots out of the picture, but I can't really help the toner dots.  I can
also push the black dots down further into the shadows so that they are not
visible, but the ramp smoothness of the 1160 does not seem to be as good as
the 1290.  It might just be an older driver that is less compatible with
radical separation curves.  At any rate, if I can find time to improve the
1160 curves some of the differences can be minimized, but some quality
differences will still be visible to perfectionists.

>I use EAM \ufffd yes EAM - for proofing (no EEM that I've seen) and PR for
>final prints.  I need smooth transitions, which I get from modified
>Randall, in my figure studies.

>Q3	Should I buy for the 1160 now, or keep it as a spare and go
>for UT hextones?

One way to limit your downside risk is to buy bulk UT ink and some empty
1160 carts for filling.  The non-chipped, quad 1160 carts fill very easily
with the vacuum fill method.  That is what I use.  This way you have not
lost much if you find you later want to go to a new 1290.

>Q4	Off Topic, sorry but there are knowledgeable folk who might
>be prepared to respond privately.  On the 1290 I have custom profiles
>for both matt papers made at the same time by the same profiler.  Why
>do I get different hues on EAM and PR?  My colour work tends to have
>a predominance of subtle/soft hues.

Even the B&W inks give slightly different hues on different papers.  The
inks and coatings simply interact differently.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com