Digital BW, The Print

Hi Boris,

Sorry to hear about your struggles.  I'm using a 1280 and just 
recently switched to the new Ultra Tone inks.  I was using the VM 
inks and got fairly good results I think.  It took some time 
though.  The images are from a D100 and I find that keeping them 16 
bit all the way thorugh makes a lot of difference.  I really like 
these new UT inks and the curves from Paul Roark.  Good blacks, 
great shadow detail and the tones are a lot smoother.  I'd be glad 
to print out your file if you'd like to see what the Ultra Tone ink 
looks like.

I've seen some B&W prints from the 2200 and they are nice.  They 
were printed with a RIP which runs around $500 I think.  I'm not so 
sure the 2200 prints were better than the 1280 with Ultra Tone ink 
however.  The blacks weren't as deep as the UT inks.

Anyway let me know if you want to see some Ultra Tone prints.

Tom

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "borisw8" 
<borisw8@y...> wrote:
> Hi group.  New member here.
> 
> I have been struggling for over a year now, trying to get results 
> from a 1280 with the MIS variable hex-tone system.  The results 
are 
> still completely unacceptable to me.  I don't know what I could be 
> doing wrong.  I convert to RGB, apply the correct curve, use 
Archival 
> Matte paper. The correct settings on the printer driver, etc...
> 
> The results are usually very "flat" looking.  Looks like there are 
> only about a dozen or so shades of grey, therefore missing most of 
> the detail.  I tried about a dozen different sets of cartridges 
but 
> always the same results.  It's not the computer either, because I 
get 
> the same results on two different machines.
> 
> When I print a 21 step greyscale, I think I can see at least part 
of 
> the problem.  Between 60% to 80%, everything looks to be about the 
> same kind of dark grey - the curve is not very smooth.
> 
> On the other hand, when I put color cartridges in, it prints like 
a 
> charm.  Too bad that most of my work is B&W :(
> 
> If there is someone here who thinks they are getting really good 
> results from this combination of Epson 1280 and MIS VM hex-tone, 
I'd 
> love it if I could send you a file and print-out and you could 
tell 
> me if your results look any better.
> 
> Since I have about given up on that whole thing, here is my second 
> question:  I'm tempted to dump the 1280 and buy a 2200 and use it 
> with the stock cartridges to print my b&w photos.  Any results, 
good 
> or bad?
> 
> My most sincere thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read 
this.
> 
> Boris