Digital BW, The Print

How does the quality of the ImagePrint print compared to Septone 
print? I have a pretty much the same experience as J. Now I am 
thinking about giving up the Septone system and go for the 
ImagePrint. Using the septone cartridges is really a nightmare. 
Frankly, I am quite disappointed with the septone system, they are 
supposed to be "allowing you to focus on image creation instead of 
equipment frustration"(this is the description of the septone 
cartridges in the inkjetgoodies web site). I expected a plug and 
play, hassle free system when I bought the system but it turns out 
that I spent most of the time and ink on nozzle checking.

I saw it on some messages that the quality of IP print doesn't 
compare with other B&W inkset. I really don't know if the IP is the 
right investment or I should give the septone CIS a shot.

Jim


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Martin Wesley" 
<mwesley250@e...> wrote:
> * -----Original Message-----
> * From: Jesus RV [mailto:jrv@s...] 
> * Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 4:42 PM
> * To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> * Subject: Re: [Digital BW] asking for help to choose a system
> * 
> * 
> * Martin:
> * 
> * The main problem I have had with the septone carts is making 
> * the nozzles run 
> * properly. Most of them remain respectfully silent -so to say- 
> * while I try to 
> * convince them to print with perfectly logical reasons.
> * 
> * I have to say that the customer service (thanks to Jessica at 
> * inkjetgoodies.com) 
> * has been extremely kind with me. My first set of carts 
> * allowed me to print 
> * properly only once -the other times, I had different kind of 
> * problems, like stains, 
> * lots of banding, uncontrolled ink running, etc.-, and they 
> * sent me a replacement 
> * set at no cost. The second set has not yet given me the joy 
> * of seeing all the 
> * nozzles (nor even 75% of them) printing. I told them, and 
> * they promised me an 
> * answer after the weekend.
> * 
> * They also say that there are some pressure problems with the 
> * ink cartridges 
> * that are solved with the CIS. I am not sure what that does 
> * mean, but I guess 
> * there is a problem with the special density of the septone 
> * inks: they are easily 
> * affected by air bubbles and other "artifacts".
> * 
> * I am certainly using the sundance septone plug-in. I gave 
> * them my input. My 
> * ideas about the plug-in are not very clear, but my main issue 
> * is that I find it too 
> * primitive, too simplified. Although apparently the warm-cool 
> * slides should be 
> * very helpful, they are not; they do not really give you a 
> * hint on how is it going to 
> * be the result of the print; you still have to waste a lot of 
> * paper and ink to get an 
> * idea, and still, there are several surprises (the result is 
> * not only difference in 
> * tone, I have also experience difference in contrast... which 
> * was undesirable to 
> * me at that moment).
> * 
> * As you can see, they are only intuitions, expressed in a 
> * non-technical language 
> * (and foreign, to me... excuse me). I hope they are at least 
> * undestandable.
> * 
> J,
> 
> Sorry to hear you have had such a hard time with the cartridges. I 
would
> keep bugging them to get you some good ones. While a CIS is the 
way to go
> eventually, that should not be the vendor's solution to bad 
cartridges. The
> cartridges should not be causing so many problems and should be 
working.
> 
> The samples I saw from Sundance were very beautiful. I like the 
one printed
> with the inks set at 50/50 on the shadows, midtone and highlight 
tonal
> ranges. With so many possible settings and not way to preview the 
effects on
> screen I can imagine there would be a lot of trial and error.
> 
> Thank you for sharing your experiences with these inks and 
software. Let us
> know what you finally do.
> 
> Thanks,
> Martin