Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sanfo2003" 
<SandyCornelius@c...> wrote:
> I use the Epson RIP for the 2200 all the time and it works 
> beautifully for BW except it prints warm and you cannot change 
that. 
> But for prints that I want printed with a warm tone the RIP is 
> abolutely great. Night and day between the RIP and the stock 
driver 
> for BW. No metamerism noticable with the RIP.
> 
> As a matter of fact, a print from the RIP is what I use as my 
> benchmark for judging other digital BW printing methods.

I agree on both counts.   Both it and the IP RIP seem to print a bit 
warm, and both do a good job controlling metamerism.   All of this 
probably reflects the fact that the Epson "light black" is actually 
sepia, not gray,  and even the regular Epson Matte Black is a little 
warm as you can see in black-only prints on the 2200. 

Anyway, it all seems to be academic now, since at least according to 
the Epson Store they no longer offer the 2200 Stylus RIP.

The main take-away from all this is that the 2200 is perfectly 
capable of printing a decent metamerism-free BW print using the UC 
inks, with the right software.   It's RIDICULOUS that 2200 owners 
should have to go out and buy a RIP, which is a professional tool 
designed for commercial print shops, just to make a decent black and 
white print.   This is like having to buy a hydraulic lift used in 
service stations just to change your cars' oil.

I CANNOT understand why Epson doesn't offer a driver that uses a the 
same algorithm as their discontinued RIP for BW printing.   It's not 
like they have some competing product for you to buy instead.   It 
just loses them business to 3rd-party ink and printer companies!