Digital BW, The Print

Thanks for the information. Have you heard anything about whether 
carts can be refilled without problems? $18 is a lot to pay for a 
cartridge. The alternative, a CIS, saves money but means dedicating 
your printer to BW. 

Chris Hargens

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones" 
<cj@c...> wrote:
> Hello All,
> 
> Several things to report:
> 
> 1) The sample Septone print on PR (from the Technical Print 
Exchange)
> has now been on the window sill for 57 days (began August 28th),
> getting increasing amounts of direct sunlight each day as we move 
into
> fall (the lower sun angle gets under the south-facing awning for
> longer periods each morning and afternoon), and still no sign of any
> fading or color shifting.  Parts of the images are covered with 
pieces
> of matt board, and I have just examined it carefully and can find no
> changes in any zones.  
> 
> 2) I received several replacement prints from Septone a few weeks 
ago
> (for the Technical Print Report on my web site), but withheld any
> public remarks at their request because they were working on 
something
> new and didn't want to raise expectations prematurely.  However they
> recently gave the ok to talk about it.  
> 
> The new prints are printed with several different curves,
> demonstrating a variable contrast adjustment.  The shadow detail on
> the original print was rated as "Good" instead of "Excellent" 
because
> the curve, like many others, dropped off a bit too soon.  The new
> Septone software (not released yet) has the ability to adjust the
> contrast curve, and these new samples show several variations, which
> means the user can choose whatever contrast best suites the image.  
> 
> The technical exchange print actually consists of four different
> photos plus Paul's enhanced wedge, and the set of Septone prints I
> received uses different curves which tailor the contrast to show 
each
> image at its best.  It appears that it gives the same degree of
> contrast control, maybe more, as we are used to in the darkroom.  
> 
> (Note: If this works the way it _looks_ like it will, it will be a
> major change in the way we work, bringing us closer to the darkroom
> experience of tailoring the output to match the image, rather than
> tailoring the image to match the output device as we do now.  I 
don't
> know anything about how it works (whether it's a continuously 
variable
> slider or a selection of fixed contrast "grades", or how it relates 
to
> paper profiles), but I'll be watching this carefully!)
> 
> In addition, the problem of the rippled paper, which seemed to
> indicate a heavy ink load, was not present on the new prints.
> 
> 3) They said that if all goes well they will release the new version
> of the software in mid to late December, with no charge to existing
> customers.
> 
> 4) They said that early problems with leaking 2200 carts has been
> solved.
> 
> 
> I will be updating the Tech Print Report over the weekend.
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton
> 
> 
> Info on black and white digital printing at    
> http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm