Digital BW, The Print

Interesting...thanks for your response.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Roy Harrington" <
roy@h...> wrote:
> 
> I think the MIS names are a little confusing.  I haven't actually seen
> the inks yet but I have worked with the UT2 inks and know the idea.
> 
> All the inks are primarily grays with various color tones.
> K is Eboni
> C and LC are the warm pure carbon grays.
> M and LM are the cool grays (carbon + blue color)
> Y is the sepia colored gray.
> LK is a custom neutral gray.
> 
> If you do a simple neutral print all the inks will be used.  The ink
> colors were picked so that the default mix done by the Epson driver
> results in all the tones neutralizing each other.
> 
> How does this compare to the UltraChromes with QuadToneRIP or
> ImagePrint?   Both RIPs do essentially the same thing -- they use
> primarily K and LK.   These are warm grays so the RIP's add some
> LC and LM (which is basically blue) to neutralize the warmth of the
> grays.  Software controls the amount of these colors needed to
> make a neutral print.  In the UT7 approach gray ink and the same
> cyan and magenta inks were all mixed together for the cool grays
> M and LM.   The epson driver then mixes all the inks.  In the end
> you'll have very much the same pigments on the paper -- warm
> carbon pigment + cyan pigment + magenta pigment.
> 
> The differences are that UT7 allows you to use the Epson driver
> whereas the UC inks require special software.   
> 
> A simple way to look at it is:
> With UT7 the inks are taylored to the software i.e. Epson driver.
> With RIPs the software is taylored to the UC inks.
> 
> As far as quality I don't have a comparison in hand but I expect they
> will be very similar.  The UT2s on a 1270 versys UC & QTR on 2200
> are very similar.  Tonal smoothness and transitions are going to
> depend on the profiles and curves you use.
> 
> Roy
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "chipcarterdc" 
> <chipcarterdc@h...> wrote:
> > When I looked at the MIS UT-7 page, I saw the following inks listed:
> > 
> > Eboni Black
> > (Cyan Position) Dark Black	
> > (Magenta Position) Cool Toner	
> > (Yellow Position) Sepia Toner
> > (Light Cyan Position) Light Gray	
> > (Light Magenat Position) Light Cool Toner	
> > (Light Black Position) Custom Light Black	
> > 
> > I see 3 that are denoted as "toners" (Cool, Sepia and Light Cool).  That 
> > leaves, I assume, 4 blacks used in neutral printing (Eboni Black, Dark 
Black, 
> > Light Gray and Custom Light Black)
> > 
> > I have 2 questions: (a) Are my assumptions above correct as to which inks 
are 
> > used for neutral printing?  (b) More fundamentally, if I am correct, I'm 
> > wondering how much of an improvement in quality one could expect to 
see 
> > for neutral grayscale printing with the 4 blacks described above, versus 
using 
> > a RIP with the Epson inks.  I don't know for sure what Epson inks 
ImagePrint 
> > uses for neutral grayscale, but I think I read somewhere that it's 
predominately 
> > black and light black, with smaller amounts of cyan and magenta to cool 
down 
> > the inherent warmth of the Epson blacks.  (I have no idea what inks 
> > QuadTone RIP uses or in what proportions).  Given that I don't have 
access to 
> > a UT-7 inkset, I guess I'm wondering what type of improvements in quality 
or 
> > just difference in appearance we'd be likely to see with the UT-7 inkset.  Is 
it a 
> > matter of smoother highlights, given that the Epson inkset doesn't include 
a 
> > highly diluted black?  Deeper blacks overall?  Better tonal transitions?
> > 
> > (Please keep in mind that I'm discounting the toners -- I'm only asking 
about 
> > neutral grayscale.  Also, I'm not asking about the relative longevity, 
although 
> > this is an issue, given that some have hypothesized that you may get 
uneven 
> > fading over time by using any color inks to produce grayscale).