Digital BW, The Print

Jack,
I have not yet received the ultratone shipment so haven't had a chance to print. However, I plan to use Paul Roarks work flow on my PC and epson 1280 and the curves listed in the MIS software chart. At present, there is no curve listed for the 1280 and ultratone, but I understand that the ultratone curve for 1160 will work well.I have not tried any other workflows or curves so unable to list alternate choices yet.
Alan

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jack M Kucy 
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 12:03 PM
  Subject: Re: [Digital BW] MIS Ultra-tone inks


  Alan,
  I was listening to all of these discussions and I am convinced already 
  to the
  Ultratone inks.  I am setting up for BW right now, so I have one more
  question.  I read that Ultratone inks work well with the Epson driver, and
  this would be the cheapest solution.  What other software (RIP) should I
  consider for improving the printing process - working on Pc? Or it's not
  worthy the effort.  I heard so much about the dot gain control and so on.
  I would appreciate the advice.
  Thanks,
  Jack

  _________________________________________________
  Jack M Kucy
  JMK Gallery (www.jmk-gallery.com)
  917-991-2096     jmk@...
  Member of ASMP (www.asmp.org)
  _________________________________________________
  ...a riveder le stelle




  Alan Zimmerman wrote:

  > Dick, Having processed fine art prints in a chemical darkroom for over 
  > 30 years, I felt exactly the same shortcoming of digital printing on 
  > matt papers vs gloss or semi gloss. In my digital printing I have used 
  > Epson premium semi gloss, and lustre , with GP inks and just ordered 
  > my first batch of Ultratone inks I'm  very interested to know where to 
  > buy Pictorico paper.
  > Thanks,
  > Alan Zimmerman
  >   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
  >   Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 9:24 AM
  >   Subject: Re: [Digital BW] MIS Ultra-tone inks
  >
  >
  >   I have been using the Ultratone inks for some time now and have found
  >   them to be a significant improvement over the old VM inks. I print
  >   with an 1160 printer and generally use semigloss papers. The
  >   following are my experiences with these inks:
  >
  >   1) There is nothing comparable for black and white printing on
  >   semigloss or glossy papers. Forget about Piezography. The old VM inks
  >   required an overcoat spray to prevent rubbing off. This is no longer
  >   a problem with the new Ultratone inks. Personally, I have yet to see
  >   a digital black and white print that looks even remotely as good on a
  >   matte paper as on a semigloss paper. Typically, comparisons of the
  >   same image printed on a matte paper vs. a semigloss paper (with the
  >   appropriate black of course) leave the image on the matte paper
  >   looking extremely flat and muddy. I suppose this must appeal to some,
  >   but I have been surprised that more individuals do not seem to have
  >   been bothered by the inability of black and white inks to print on
  >   semigloss or glossy papers. The Ultratones now give this flexibility.
  >   I have had most success printing on Pictorico's Premium Photo Glossy
  >   Paper and Epson's Professional Glossy Paper (reasons noted below).
  >
  >   2) Unlike the old VM inks, the Ultratones do not seem to have even
  >   the slightest problem with clogging. I am using the photo black in
  >   cartridges (not a CFS yet) and I have yet to experience a single
  >   issue with clogging. I have left the inks sitting in the printer
  >   unused for well over a month and been able to start printing without
  >   a head cleaning (or at most just one). I should note that I live on
  >   the Front Range in Colorado at 5000 feet and am in an extremely dry
  >   climate. The old VM black caused so many clogging problems in this
  >   climate that I eventually had to replace a head on my printer.
  >
  >   3) The new curves Paul has made for the Ultratones on the 1160 are a
  >   significant upgrade over the old VM curves. I had puddling problems
  >   with the old VM curves and the new Ultratone inks. The new curves
  >   solved this issue. Not only that, but they lay down less ink and
  >   consequently result in markedly improved image quality with smoother
  >   transitions on the grey scale (Note that all of this pertains
  >   particularly to my experiences printing on semigloss paper. I am sure
  >   the same would hold on matte or glossy papers however). On semigloss
  >   papers, there are now absolutely no visible dots in higlights on the
  >   1160. It's quite impressive. This was not the case with the old
  >   curves and the VM inks. In general, my experience has been that
  >   printing on glossy or semigloss papers is considerably more demanding
  >   from the system as a whole than printing on matte papers. Matte
  >   papers seem to smooth out any imperfections, whereas semigloss and
  >   glossy papers readily show any weaknesses - be it in the printer not
  >   having perfectly clean heads or the inks not being perfectly
  >   linearized etc.
  >
  >   All this said, areas for improvement with the Ultratones might be as
  >   follows:
  >
  >   1) The new curves for the 1160 are just about perfect on matte paper.
  >   They will need some adjusting on glossy/semigloss papers. I have
  >   found there to be a large jump between 100% and 95% that can be
  >   visually distracting. I have yet to fix this. Paul is ultimately much
  >   more qualified to deal with this than I am.
  >
  >   2) Bronzing is apparent on some glossy or semigloss papers. I found
  >   there to be some distracting reflectance issues with the Ultratones
  >   on some papers. It is not horrible, but it can be an issue. The
  >   reason I print on the Pictorico paper and the Epson Professional
  >   Photo paper is that these two papers seem to almost completely
  >   eliminate this problem. (I should note I'm still experimenting with
  >   other papers at this time.) Epson Premium Semigloss seems acceptable,
  >   but not quite as good in this respect when compared with the two
  >   aforementioned papers. Premium Luster does not fare quite as well. I
  >   would encourage you to experiment for yourself if interested.
  >
  >   All in all, I highly recommend these inks. They are a vast
  >   improvement over the old VM inks, and Paul and MIS deserve much
  >   credit for their hard work and effort and for providing this system
  >   at such a reasonable price.
  >
  >   Regards,
  >   Dirk Hobman
  >
  >
  >
  >   --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, BOB KRAMER
  >   <bobkramer@c...> wrote:
  >   > Jeff, you might consider buying the small 2 oz. bottles of the
  >   Ultratone
  >   > inks and a set of virgin cartridges.  It won't cost you much more
  >   than a set
  >   > of preloaded carts, and they are quite easy to load yourself.  This
  >   inkset
  >   > is great!  Much better than the original quad and VM inks that I
  >   had been
  >   > using previously.  You really should give them a try.
  >   >
  >   > Regards,
  >   >
  >   > Bob
  >   >
  >   > -----Original Message-----
  >   > From: Jeff Magidson [mailto:jef.jef@v...]
  >   > Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 6:23 PM
  >   > To: digital bw group
  >   > Subject: [Digital BW] MIS Ultra-tone inks
  >   >
  >   >
  >   > Hey Everyone;
  >   >
  >   > Does anyone know what the status of the MIS ultra-tone inks are? On
  >   the
  >   > MIS web site they are still listed as "experimental" and only
  >   available
  >   > in bottles. I would like to buy a set in carts to give them a try.
  >   >
  >   > I did make some nice prints with the VM set...printing mostly with
  >   the
  >   > medium warm and warm curves. However, after these prints where
  >   exposed
  >   > to indirect light for a short time they warmed to great degree...
  >   much
  >   > MUCH greater then the moderate increments of the medium warm -vs-
  >   the
  >   > warm curve. For me that does not make this inkset usable. I have
  >   heard
  >   > that when printing with the more neutral curves or cool curves the
  >   > prints do not warm much.
  >
  >
  >     


  -- 





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