Digital BW, The Print

Charlie wrote:

>I am working to print on the hot press fine art paper 

Which "Hot Press" -- Arches (uncoated) or PremierArt (coated inkjet paper)?

>with the lc in 
>the yellow position. I want the prints to look like traditional 
>black and white. I think that would be just on the cool side of 
>neutral from what I am seeing.

Arches HP prints so warm you will not be able to get good quality and have a
truly cool print.  The paper is so warm that with the LC in the Y and the
sliders at neutral (0), the print looks fairly neutral.

With PremierArt HP, you'll be very close to neutral with LC in Y and the
sliders at neutral.

For Arches, I recommend you use only the "Color Controls" mode with the
color sliders at neutral.  The driver puts in the LK only with the RGB being
equal.  The LK in the image really helps the Arches HP quality (smoothness).

>I also want all carbon since in 
>combination with the buffered paper the prints will have greater 
>staying power.

The "pure carbon" ink (C & LC in the UT7 inkset) is quite warm.  You can't
get a neutral looking print without the cool gray inks -- M & LM.  (Note
also that all inkjet "carbon" ink is probably chemically modified for
dispersion and other reasons.)

The carbon inks are more lightfast than the toned inks.  In dark storage, it
is probably a moot issue since both are probably very archival.  In my
initial fade testing, the Epson UltraSmooth (aka Premier Imaging Fine Art
Hot Press or Scrapbook)with UT ink appeared to be more lightfast than the
Arches HP. 

> The only way I have had success is to use the neutral 
>curve for hot press which you provided and then I go to the color 
>balance adjustment in photoshop and moved the slider toward yellow 
>to use the (now light cyan cart) to cool it a bit.

That LC is not cool ink, it's carbon.

>I want to use as many of the cartridges as 
>possible so that the resolution of the print head is used to its 
>full capability.

Some printers (like mine) are less than perfect and use of all the jets
hides the defects.

> My question is this; am I on the right track here? 

"Neutral" and "all carbon" isn't possible.

I have not tried the approach you're suggesting, but with Arches I'd stick
with the slider at 0.  With PremierArt HP the sliders or curves should be
fine.  See my suggested slider settings in the information sheet, URL below.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 

For UT2 & UT7 information, curves, and settings see:
http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/