Digital BW, The Print

Well the first thing I would say is you have a great printer.  Seems 
also from looking at your photos that you want it to produce both 
colour and B&W.  So solutions with dedicated B&W ink sets are 
probably not for you just yet.  I have the 21/2200 and bought a CFS 
from MIS with their equivalent of the Epson ultrachrome inks.  Well 
worth the money from the get go because you will otherwise rip 
through Epson cartridges particularly as you learn the whole digital 
workflow.  But as you change inks from the stock standard Epsons you 
will need to recalibrate your printer (for both colour and B&W).  So 
I would say that purchasing an Eye-One Photo calibrating device (if 
you don't have access to one through other means) will leave you in 
good stead - it can be used for monitor and printer calibration and, 
as you will see, is used by people wanting to prepare their own 
curves/profiles for various B&W techniques.  With a good monitor, 
your good printer and a good calibration device a lot of doors 
open.  
 
The 2200 is not really capable of decent B&W out of the box.  The 
Espon drivers will produce B&W prints that suffer heavily from 
metamerism (colour shifts in different light).  People have dealt 
with this in one of two ways (assuming they want to stay with the 
existing colour ink set).  
 
Firstly, some have tried to print Black Only ie they select Black 
(rather than colour) in the Epson driver and print using just the 
black ink cartridge.  This has some positives and some drawbacks.  
Because it uses spacing of dots to create the illusion of grey scale 
it can exhibit a grainy look.  Also the tone of the B&W output will 
change for each paper (and PK vs MK ink - photo vs matt).  But it is 
easy and therefore does not require a learning curve to try it out. 
 
Secondly, people have used RIPs that control the inks better than 
the Epson driver in order to provide metamerism free prints.  These 
range from expensive solutions such as Imageprint to cheap solutions 
such as Quadtone RIP (QTR) developed by Roy Harrington (now 
available for both Mac and PC).  Each have a number of advantages 
and disadvantages but notably Imageprint may improve your colour 
work as well but is expensive.  QTR is just for B&W and requires a 
little more fuss but is dramatically cheaper.  I use a well 
calibrated profile with the Epson driver for colour and QTR for B&W.
 
It is tempting to want to try a whole bunch of papers up front. 
Personally I would recommend sticking with a select few until you 
get your workflow ironed out.  Hahnemulle Photorag is probably still 
the classic fine art matt paper.  Another post made other paper 
recommendations.  Colur output on Epson Premium Luster is 
fantastic.  But there are significant issues with printing B&W on 
these RC papers.  The biggest are bronzing - the brown metallic 
sheen that appears in a B&W print as you tilt it in the light - and 
differential reflectance.  You will read a lot on this forum about 
people grappling with these issues.
 
Hope this helps
 
Steve
 
 
--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tim 
Timmermans" <zenphoto7@a...> wrote:
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> I've been gone for a while during a long and arduous personal
> transition period. Lots of changes in my life and in my gear. I put
> down the 1N and got a 10D. Just traded in my 1280 (got $500 credit)
> towards a 2200 that is sitting on my table waiting for its first 
go.
> Just had a group show with 150 other studios and galleries as part 
of
> an Artist Colony open house Artwalk. Sold about $2000 worth of 1280
> prints. This reaction to my work tells me I've got to get my s...
> together and start doing this at a higher level. I've been using 
epson
> papers and epson (or generic) inks. I think it would be wise to 
get a
> CFS from MIS for the 2200 and I'd like to try some different paper
> unless you think the epson is fine.
> 
> I am not as tech oriented as you guys. I'm strictly an artist and a
> self taught one at that. I'm great at creating unique imagery but 
not
> too hip on how to get the best possible prints with a somewhat 
limited
> budget.
> 
> If you were in my shoes..great image maker, artist's income but a 
bit
> lacking in the comprehension of some of the terminology that is
> indigenous to this forum can you suggest in plain english what I 
might
> do to maximize the quality and archival integrity of my imagery?
> 
> Inksets, monitor calibration tools, CFS's, Papers etc. I am 
currently
> using the Premium Glossy Photo Paper from Epson. I have yet to 
print
> my first print on the 2200. I shoot mostly ambient, unusual 
lanscapes
> and bizarre portraiture. Are there Archival novelty papers like 
Canvas
> in addition to traditional Archival Papers? Do all the Archival 
papers
> have the brand name on the back like Epson does? It looks a little
> tacky and customers still don't like the words "digital print"
> although they are adapting.
> 
> I am anxious to here your suggestions on products (papers 
especially)
> and suppliers (best prices) as I hope to attain a level of print
> quality that even you guys would  appreciate.
> 
> Here are some of my recent shots taken with the new 10D
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/6d73v
> 
> Comments are, of course, welcomed. (yes the site I have them on is
> lame. I'll have my new website soon)
> 
> Thank you in advance for any technical advice you may send my way 
on
> or off this list.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Tim Timmermans