Digital BW, The Print

Sean,

>What are your current thoughts on using MIS-UT with C82/C84 vs. 1280?

The big differences are that the 1280 can print 13" paper, the dmax is a bit
higher (1.62 on cotton v. 1.55, 1.66 on EEM v. 1.55), the 1280 has smoother
highlights than the C82 (unknown with respect to the C84), but the C82 is
about as good at the 2200 with IP5, so it's not bad.

The C82 is going to be simpler -- no curves, etc. -- and cheaper.

>How about newer Epson models like 960 and the mysterious PX-G900?
>Reason to delay a purchase decision?

I don't know much about them.  The idea was to get a machine that was as
affordable as possible and see what it could do in terms of archival
printing.  The results, frankly, surprised me.  I never expected such high
quality.

>Finally, I'd love to hear your thoughts about what to recommend for
>archival *color* printing, if you do any of that.

Well, the 2200 is a fine machine.  However, the C82 with its color Durabrite
pigmented inks does a very good job, and it's a lot cheaper.  The Durabrite
inks appear to be essentially the same as the UltraChromes, but without the
light black -- the lightfastness and longevity are about as good.  So, my
recommendation for the scrapbookers and genealogists is to get the C82 (or
C84 when the carts arrive) and just switch back and forth between the
Durabrite and carbon pigs as needed.  On matte paper, I think this little
4-ink printer at 2880 does an excellent job.   It's a great way to get into
digital printing affordably.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com
________________________________________


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> >I looked in the Epson site and they list a C-84 and it is in the
right
> >price range (@$79 USD) but has a much higher claimed resolution....
> >or is the C-82 yet to be released.
>
> I think the C82 is an older model.  MIS and Amazon have them, but
I'm not
> sure how many are still out there.  The C84 will be the next one,
> presumably, but for now there are no 3rd party carts available. MIS
thinks
> they use the same inks, but different chips.
>
> The higher resolution of the C84 is probably visible with color
inks on
> RC/glossy paper, but with B&W on matte, I think a loupe would be
required to
> see the difference.  I was, frankly, astounded at how good the C82
is at
> 2880 (with High Speed off -- it does make a difference with this
printer)
> and when the same gray ink (MIS UT Light cyan) is in all three color
carts.
>
> The weaknesses I've found so far with the C82 are, first, the dmax,
and
> second, a possible paper handling glitch.
>
> While the dmax of the C82 doesn't match that of the 1280, the C82
with
> PhotoRag hits 1.57 with Eboni black, which is not too bad for
cotton.
> Recall that the new cotton papers from Epson and Moab were hitting
1.6 -
> 1.62 with the 1280 and Epson driver.  I suspect those papers don't
do much
> better than the C82 when the Piezo driver is used with, for
example, an
> 1160.  The Piezo driver, like the C82, under-prints the black ink
with the
> "color" inks.  It's a trade-off between smoothness and dmax.  With
EEM the
> dmax is 1.55, same with the new Permajet (cotton) ISC (there will be
a new
> name when released in January).  Some cotton papers are not good,
however.
> PremierArt was down at 1.46.

[snip]

> I thought my old 1160 was a fine quad, but the dither and smoothness
on this
> cheap C82 is way ahead of it.  I suspect the vertical placement
makes
> alignment (and cheap assembly) much less of an issue, because I'd
guess it
> is mostly machined in the head when it's made -- by a very accurate
machine.
>
> The carts for the C82 (and C84) are still a bit of an open issue.
It
> appears MIS has some new ones for the C82 that might make re-filling
> extremely easy, avoiding the foam problems.  (Having only one
"color" ink
> also makes the process rather easy for both re-fillers and MIS.)  It
may be
> that with a re-setter, a single set of carts will last a very long
time.
> The current carts are, apparently, not easy to re-fill.  I'm not
certain
> when the C84 carts will be ready.
>
> The independent color carts also appear to be all the same.  This
could be
> very interesting.  The yellow pumps in less ink than the others.
So, if I'm
> lucky, a toner might be able to be mixed that, for example, makes a
neutral
> print when in the magenta spot and medium-warm print in the yellow
slot.
> Similarly for a sepia toner.  (Having one [already in inventory]
gray ink in
> all carts -- which just happen to be the same -- is also a nice
little
> inventory and cost benefit to MIS, which hopefully will be passed
on the
> users.)

[snip]

> Keep in mind that this is a $69 machine.  I don't recommend people
throw
> their 1280s away, but there are a lot of people who don't want to
put out
> that kind of cash.  The goal here is to lower the financial and
expertise
> barrier to outstanding, archival B&W printing by getting a cheap
printer,
> "no-workflow" inkset, and non-Photoshop image editor competitive
with the
> best systems -- and the C82 has made me believe more than ever that
this can
> be done.
>
> Frankly, from what I've seen this last week, and since I use the
7500 with
> UT inks for display prints, I might be very happy with the C82 and
no 1280.
> The "might" isn't a "would" mostly because I have not tested the
toning
> approaches yet.  That happens next week (since I ran out of carts
last
> week).  The only real question here is whether the plug-in toner
cart
> approach will work or whether we need to put the neutral/selenium
ink (&
> maybe others later) in all 3 spots.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com



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