Digital BW, The Print

Cleavis,

Three directions at once. Hmmm… You will definitely fit right in here!

If your 3000 is running well, I would use it for your B&W work. I 
don't think that it is lacking in sharpness and has been the great 
workhorse for quad printing. All the quad ink sets are available for 
the 3000 but for maximum sharpness with the 3000 I think the Piezo is 
the way to. The 3000 does have a poor reputation for handling heavy 
papers and would not do well for your "painterly" work.

For the color I would want to go with one of the newer Epson's 
myself. Maybe the 1280 or the 2000P. I think these will have an 
easier time handling heavy art papers. I have put up to 350 gsm paper 
through the 1280. For really heavy stuff you would need to move up to 
a 7000 which is a big price jump.

There are so many good papers you will just have to try some sample 
packs and see what appeals to you. Once you have some reference 
points, some of the comments on the list may help.

There are a lot of scanners out there in the sub $500 category. Will 
you be scanning in a reflective or transparency mode for this work?

There is just as much craft to ink jet printing as there is to 
traditional photographic printing and it can be difficult at times 
but very rewarding.

One word of caution. If you are coming from a B&W smooth silver fiber 
point of view, ink jet B&W is a different animal. It is much more 
similar to matte silver prints. You can go with dye based quads and 
get very good glossy prints but I find them to be more like silver RC 
prints than silver fiber. So if you go with a quad pigmented ink set 
on matte paper, look at it as a new photographic medium and don't get 
caught up in trying to make it look just like silver.

Martin Wesley


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., lyonscox@m... wrote:
> Martin,
> 
> A couple of years ago I guess, I bought a computer with the idea of 
> doing some digital to parallel traditional B/W.  The laptop I got 
at 
> the time had a red flush to the screen and therefore never, ever 
over 
> came that obstacle towards WYSIWYG.  So the 3000 & the DuoScan 
> languished.  This past August I was feeling flush and went to a 
> traditional desktop, determined to not waste the money already 
> invested.
> 
> I have a (small) number of B/W as well as color slides.  Color up 
to 
> 6x7cm and B/W up to 8x10" with 5x7 being a favorite camera (420 & 
135 
> lenses).  I tend to over accessorize, so I am trying to practice 
> restraint at buying what I can't afford or don't need.  Therefore I 
> really, really try to shop for what's right for me.
> 
> I've got to start with calibrating the monitor to satisfaction.  In 
> the long run, I would like to use the 3000 for "painterly" images 
> where resolution isn't THE thing.  I would like to get a second, 
> cheap, scanner and use it for photogram/scan stuff.  I would like 
to 
> get a second printer and dedicate it to the best quality resolution 
I 
> can for B/W printing of images I can't work in silver.  Three 
> directions?  That tends to be the pattern.
> 
> Regarding papers, I will undoubtedly migrate towards printmaking 
> papers like the Arches Hot Press for the 'painterly' stuff.  For 
the 
> resolution, I don't know yet.  The way the paper feels AND looks is 
a 
> strong factor in my aesthetic.
> 
> My significant other printed Frederick Sommer's work for the last 
14 
> years or so of life with him.  By extension, there is a nice family 
> of fine art photographers with high standards for print quality.
> 
> I aspire to live up the quality of craftsman and connections to the 
> history of art to which I have already been exposed.
> 
> Cleavis in AZ