Digital BW, The Print

Monty,

>I would like some suggestions on getting started. ...

It's hard to know where to start.  Harald Johnson's "Mastering digital
Printing" seems to get good reviews as a general book on digital printing.

I never had any luck learning software from a book.  So, just diving in
might be the best way.

How much one wants to spend, what printer one has, and ink tone choices
might be the next step.

If you don't have a printer, the 1280 is probably the most supported and
widely available one at this point.

I strongly favor pigment inks, and while there are some new ones out there,
Piezo/Cone Editions and MIS (inksupply.com) pigments are the B&W ("quad")
inks most used by people on this list.  Reading the webpages for those two
suppliers can tell you a lot.  If cost is a concern, start comparing the
costs of the various inks and papers -- they can be significant.

The Epson 2200 and UltraChrome inks are, of course, excellent.  However,
additional software is needed to do really good work, and there will always
be dots in the highlights, because that inkset is a color inkset with no
light gray ink in it.

For starter paper, I highly recommend Epson Enhance (aka "Archival") matte,
available at www.atlex.com for a very reasonable price.

I recommend buying ink in cartridges first before investing in a continuous
inking system.  That tends to lock you into one ink.

Good luck on your journey.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com