Digital BW, The Print

scrber wrote:
> This was also discussed a long while ago when speculation was rife as 
> to what inkset would be used in the 4000. 
> I guess the answer I remember seeing then is still valid now.  The 
> 4000 is a professional machine designed for medium to high volume 
> exhibition quality prints.  The R800 is designed for the home photo 
> enthusiast market.
> Put a 5760dpi 1.5pl head in a machine the size of the 4000 and it 
> will slow down to a crawl, killing it's viability as a fast 
> commercial machine.  One of the ways the R800 printer succeeds so 
> well in removing the Cl and Ml inks is that the dots are so small the 
> lighter inks are not needed.  The droplet size of the 4000 is limited 
> to 3.5pl and in it's current guise could not take the R800 inkset.
> I guess therefore reckon on the *600 replacements and 4000 
> replacements continuing to be evolutions of their current 
> stablemates, perhaps the *600 replacements will take some of the 4000 
> advantages, the dual black inks, the faster print head, higher nozzle 
> count, better profiles, smaller droplet size etc.  The R800 inks 
> will, you can pretty much be sure, find their way into a 13" carriage 
> at some point, but I really suspect it will stay in the domestic 
> domain - maybe the '1380' who knows.
> 
> Steve

Future Wales Ltd has all kinds of plans for the 4000. Whether we 
will see one working with an R800 inkset on the Fotokina in 
September is hard to predict.

Ernst

 From the Epson Wide Format List:

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My name is John Edmunds and I am the Technical Director for 
Future's. It would be unfair for me to influence you as to which 
Inks to use, but here is some general advice and, should you be 
interested in our beta test program for both inks and substrates 
contact suewilliams@... she is our agent in North America.

To get the best out of any of the new Printers you should 
consider the following:

1.    Get the best and largest printer you can afford.

2.    I have used the EP 4000 and consider it the best work horse 
that Epson has ever produced and we have the 7600,7500/7000, 9600 
and the 4000 (Even better than the 3000 was) it has many advantages:-
         a.    eight colour slots
         b.    fast
         c.    will be fully supported by many Rip's
         d.    Third party Ink Manufacturers will fully support 
it with profiles if they have any sense and understanding of 
user's needs.

3.    Get a "good" bulk ink system, that eliminates air ingress 
into the system this should help to prevent head dry-out and 
clogging. (Symphonic's new system is perfect for the 4000 what 
ever ink you may use.)

4.    Make sure that whoever supplies your ink  can also supply 
you with profiles for the papers you wish to use and that they 
have and can offer support in your country.

As I said I don't want to influence you in your choice of inks 
etc., however here are some of the advantages of our system:

1.     We are a research company.

2.     We licence our technology to several top name Fine Art 
Paper manufacturers, who use our ink receptive coatings and we 
have just signed a manufacturing contract with a major Ink 
manufacturer, to make our new, Water-proof, exceptionally 
Wide-gamut, Extended-archival Dye based inks, they will be 
manufactured both in the USA and Europe.

3.    When matched with our new substrates, the ink when dry 
cannot be re-solubulised.

4.    we are aiming to release  the following at "Photokina" in 
Germany in September

      A new Fine Art Paper that is "Probably the most archival 
paper in the world - it is 100% first cotton bud with no OBA's 
the paper will feel no different than any normal fine art paper 
without an inkjet "Coating" but it will have an ink receptive 
ingredient in the pulp leaving the paper "truly natural" and it 
will not "rub off" or be marked by fingerprints and it is water 
repellent in its own right.

We will be releasing a film with the same characteristics as the 
paper and a new range of  Canvas and Fabrics all with the same 
features.

In addition we will soon be releasing a "Liquid lamination" along 
with an applicator for production work although you could use an 
old printer as it will have the same flow characteristics as our ink.

Note:- Our Inks will work equally as well in all of the Epson 
Printers and we will supply a full range of colours e.g.: 
C,M,Y,K,Grey,Lc,Lm, R,G,B, O,G, and a range of Black sets e.g.:- 
Blue-Black, Warm-Black, Grey Range, and WHITE.

I hope this will be of use to you and if you have any questions 
call me on +44 1495 792777 or email me your phone No. and I will 
try to help you further.

John

Dr. John Edmunds
Futures (Wales) Ltd.
Studio's 5/7
Torfean Business Centre
Gilchrist Thomas Estate
Blaenafon NP4 9RL
Wales. UK


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