Digital BW, The Print

..Snip...
> 
> But, I don't think I made myself clear.  I have some prints, maybe 
> 10% of my prints, that have areas of light silvery tones.  This is 
> the region where ImagePrint puts down dots with blank paper in 
> between, whereas the PiezographyBW driver I'm using more or less 
> fills this space with light gray ink, obscuring the paper base.  
The 
> reflection off the paper base is whiter than off the light gray 
> ink.  When placed across the room on a wall, these highlight areas 
> on the ImagePrint prints have more luminosity.  And there is no 
> question about it...it's very easy to see.  Now maybe this is not 
> the case with your custom PiezoTone printing approach...I can 
accept 
> this if you say so.  And maybe it won't be the case with the new 
ICC 
> profiles.

Ron,

I agree with you!  This special luminous quality is restricted to 
some images and under specific light condition.  I see this also in 
BO printing.  Use of pigmented grays in highlight areas impose the 
quality of inks, rather than allowing the paper to assert itself.  A 
long time ago - 1.5 years;-) I was using dye based inks for b/w 
printing.  And sure enough, the paper character was more readily 
apparent in the highlights.  Too bad about color crossover and fade 
of color dyes.  I am looking forward to the day when we get a dye 
based grayscale inkset, even one which has a limited lightfastness of 
20 years.  But that is just me.

On the microbanding front:  It should be noted that the Piezography 
plug-in is not the only way to go with the 1280.  One can use the 
Epson driver along with the MIS FS (and FS-N) inks designated "E".  
Alternatively, you can use the regular FS (and FS-N) inks provided 
you switch the inks around as follows:  cyan=magenta=dark, 
lightcyan=lightmagenta=middle, yellow=light.  A moderate curves 
adjustment layer (call it profile) linearizes the response nicely.  
No plug-in, no banding.  Also in fairness, I have seen a lot of 
prints made with the Piezo plug-in and PT inks with no evidence of 
banding.  I personally don't use the plug-in because I like the 
ability to custom mix my own inks, and the plug-in (mis)uses too much 
ink, and it is slooooooooooooow!

Regards.

Shilesh