Digital BW, The Print

>... I use the 1280 with UT2/eboni ...
>Occasionally I need to make a glossy print, and for that 
>I determined that paul's curves plus print shield 
>spray is pretty good. BUT....I now need to make some glossy prints that 
>need to be really good. As good as the photo rag etc. 
>There cant be any bronzing, and should be glossier than the 
>print shield spray ends up.

>My Question: does the the photo black make a significant diference in 
>bronzing?? 

No.  The bronzing is in the midtones where there is no PK (unless you are
doing BO printing).
 
On many papers the Photo K doesn't even increase the dmax much if any.  For
example, I made some curves for the 2000P and the UT-FS inkset.  On Premium
Semigloss, compare the dmax with and without PK after the dry down and the
glycol has been removed from the surface with plain paper:  PK - 1.93,
Non-PK (black generated with 2 dark grays) - 1.95. (Call it equal.)

Don't believe the huge dmax that PK can generate when fresh.  Ilford drops
from 2.40 to about 2.12 in a day or so.

So, for many papers and the UT-2, 7 or 8, I think the advantage of being
able to control the tone/hue of the black is more important than the minimal
dmax advantage PK may (or may not) give.

>...
>Now, before i switched to UT2, i was doing black only, 
>with the original dye epson ink, and the output was great on 
>glossy paper, (except for the dithering pattern which ruined it ...

>..is the photo black free of bronzing? If so
>does it work as black only on glossy paper? 

On the 2000P, which doesn't have as small a dot size as the best current
printers, PK in BO mode is very free of bronzing, but the print is very
rough -- serious dots.  I can't say what a better, state of the art printer
might be able to do.

As you note, almost all papers need a spray to get rid of bronzing.  Whether
the finish is improved or not is subjective.  I suppose the real glossy
papers do lose a bit of that super-gloss look.  On the other hand, the dmax
they can retain with a spray is significant.

>...
>Epson glossy photo paper (cheap photo paper)...Wow pretty good, almost 
>does not need spray, and when you spay, the spray almost does not show. 

Try the Costco private label version -- better total dry dmax than Premium
Semigloss, 15 cents/letter-size sheet, and just a hair more bronzing than
Epson Glossy Photo Paper.  (I haven't tried spraying it.)

There is no perfect pigment glossy B&W print as far as I know.  I think the
sprayed ones are the closest we can get to it at this point.  Frankly, since
I don't like the RC look, the pearl or semi-gloss finish is near perfect for
me, but that's clearly subjective.

Good luck in your search.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com