Digital BW, The Print

I got home last night at 10:00pm and found a box with my PiezographyICC
software.

Since I have an 1160 and didn't need to do anything other than install a
couple of profiles I thought I would give it a try.

I must say that my first impressions are very positive.

First, the screen preview is, in fact, incredibly close to what I get
printed out.

Second, the very faint, but apparent microbanding I have always had is gone,
replaced by an all but invisible dither pattern only discernable in certain
tones and at high magnification. This is an incredible improvement.

Third, I had to make very minor changes to my images. In general my old
images are too light when printed without changes. Luckily, I work with
unflattened adjustment layers in my images. So I just open the adjustment
layer, make some minor tweaks and print.

Fourth, it is great to be able to work in Photoshop while my image is
printing. This will double my productivity.

Fifth, I don't have a densitometer, but the max density definitely seems
blacker.

Sixth, the initial setup is a little confusing. It took me a while to figure
out which profiles I needed. It seems like they could have come up with a
better method of communicating this. There is a lot of reading to be done in
the manual and a lot of settings to confirm and or change to get things
working correctly. However, once set up, it is all pretty seamless and the
new settings don't screw anything up too much.

Seventh, it seems, after reading the manual, like people who are not using
Photoshop are in for a bit more of a quest for the right settings than I
experienced. But a careful reading of the manual should lead them in the
right direction.


This is only after a cursory look at three prints made last night, I am sure
we will all be discovering the traits of the new system in the days to come.

PiezographyICC
Epson 1160
PT Selenium with Portfolio Black (carts)
Hanemeuhle PhotoRag

Mac OX 10.3
Photoshop 7

Previously using ImageExportBW (R9)

James Haney