Digital BW, The Print

Colin,

>...
>Your latest curves were posted on 8 May ...  Am I correct in assuming
>that these posted new curves were developed after you expressed your
>concerns over smoothness in the shadows on an 1160?

Yes, I found the time to re-write the 1160 curves to cure the shadow
roughness problem.  On matte paper it looks as smooth as the hextone
printers.  On Pictorico transparency film the 1280 advantage is still
clearly there.  However, this transparency film shows every minute artifact,
and on close examination, I doubt any printer can be perfect on it.

>... any idea when the caveat emptor will be lifted by MIS on the ultratones

No.  I have not seen any defects that I think warrant special care except
for printers that have had dye in them.  Fortunately, washing the parking
pad seemed to cure the clogs on my 1280.  Once I rinsed it thoroughly with
Windex and also wiped the head with a Windex-soaked paper towel, the clogs
disappeared.

>  could I not buy a 6 line CFS and use it on the 1160 with
>two black lines (Pk and Ebony), the
>three colours and one redundant, placing the second black cart not
>being used on the ledge in a cradle?  ...

That is an interesting idea.  Why don't you run it by MIS and see if they
have or will give it a try.

I once had separate lines for my 1160 CIS, and found that only 3 lines made
the CIS tubes rather unpredictably floppy. I was afraid of them getting
caught on parts of the printer.  I used tape to put the black line back on,
but it was never the same.  Maybe MIS could figure out a way to stabilize
the tubes.  I also hear that the MIS tubes may be a different material that
react more predictably.  I just don't know.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that you might save yourself a potential
headache if MIS did some experimenting first.  I think they have an interest
in figuring out an efficient way to switch black inks, and they know the
field so well that they may be able to find clips or other accessories that
would make the system work.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com