Digital BW, The Print

>Ok,so i'm gonna get the epson 1280, and am trying to find out the best
>way to get good quality black and white - ...
>But I'm a bit confused, on which quadtone to get, and
>what the differences are...

>From the inksupply.com - I see that a couple of options are
>availaible: one is variable mix quadtones,

MIS VM was the original variable-tone/mix "quad" (B&W) inkset.  What this
means is the tone/hue can be either warm, neutral or cold.  Photoshop curves
applied to an RGB version of your grayscale file control the inks and are
available free on the MIS website (inksupply.com), in the Files section
here, or from me or others.

The MIS Ultra Tone inkset is the new version of the MIS VM inkset.  It is
more lightfast, does not warm up significantly with light exposure (which
the older quads do), is RC paper compatible (when a "Photo" black ink is
used), and has a potential for warmer images than the MIS VM inkset.

> and the other full spectrum,

The FS inksets are Piezo-driver-compatible inksets that comes in either
medium-warm or neutral-cool versions.  It is a monotone with no variability
(aside from the slight differences one gets by using different papers).  The
FS-E series is the same ink but geared to the Epson driver and RGB curves
for controlling it.   The FS-N (neutral-cool) inkset was the first
non-warming quad, and was really made for the purpose of being the base gray
ink in the VM-S inkset.

> and then there is Sepia tone

The MIS VM-S is a variable-tone/mix inkset that has a range of neutral to
sepia.  As noted above, it uses the FS-N as the base ink and then has a
sepia toner.  Again, it is controlled by Photoshop image adjustment curves
being applied to an RGB version of your file.

>... how do I decide what to get?

What tone/hue do you like to print?  I personally like neutral for my
landscapes, and warm for reproducing old photos, "southwest" type images,
old barns, etc.  In mixed media competitions, I've found that the sepia tone
holds up better next to color paintings.  So, the variable-tone option has
appealed to me due to its flexibility.

On the warm end, the sepia is about twice are warm as the UT with the warm
curve.  However, for old photo reproductions, the purists who want the best
lightfastness and archival stability will want pure carbon.  The sepia toner
has yellow and magenta pigments in it that are not as good as carbon.  So
the UT with the warm curve is essentially pure carbon warm.  So, for a warm
tone that is the most stable, the UT inkset is much better than the VM-S
inkset.  (I've also made a pure carbon 1280 inkset aimed specifically at
genealogists and the like.  It requires no special "workflow" [curves,
etc.], and will print from any application.)

Do you like glossy/RC prints?  Frankly, I'm not that impressed with any of
the RC papers at this point, but there is no question that for the deepest
blacks they are hard to beat.  Only the Ultra Tone ("UT") inkset is RC
compatible among pigmented quads.  Dyes make better RC prints, but they fade
and often have other problems.

>I'm also assuming that in the 1280 there are two catridges, one black,
>and the other color? So, if i were to get these catridges - do i get
>two of the same, put one in the black, and the other in color?

The 1280 must always have a black cartridge and a "color" cartridge.  With
quads, the "color" cartridge contains the lighter gray and, with
variable-tone inksets, the toner inks.

Since I did a lot of the design work on these inksets, I may be a bit
biased. (I do not receive royalties -- just free MIS supplies.  I make these
inksets because I want them for my own use or for others who have a specific
need for an ink that does not exist yet.)

However, for what it is worth, I recommend the Ultra Tone inkset with the
Eboni black.  This inkset is 100% pigment, very lightfast, stable, and
flexible.  The black & gray inks are carbon-based, and the toner is pure
pigment -- no dyes in this inkset.  I have made curves for the UT inkset and
the 1280, which is what I'm now using.

Some like a darker black than the carbon-pigment Eboni.  However, the darker
blacks have dye in them that will cause the black to warm and fade.  I'd
stick with Eboni, which I find to be plenty black.

Enjoy your digital B&W journey.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com