Digital BW, The Print

Matt,

>I read an article on luminous landscape about new EZ inks, which are 
>basically UT inks for use with very cheap Epson printers.  

True.  They will have the same lightfastness as the UT2 and UT7 inks.

>Obviously, if I only pay $200 to get up and running,

Or less.

> I can't reasonably expect the same quality as if I bought a 
>2200 and all that,

Don't bet on it.  The original EZ set in a C82 separated every single step
of a 256 step wedge test, with the exception that 255 = 254, and 0 = 1.  The
smoothness was equal to a 2200 with UltraChrome inks and IP 5 RIP.  The
lightfastness in my initial fade tests is better than the UC inks.

>I'm a little mystified as to how it would work.  Using only the 
>default print driver, I'm guessing we can't reasonably expect to get 
>out of the printer exactly what we see on the screen. 

You have the sliders and gamma controls of the driver available.

Also, if you use Photoshop, there is a soft proof/viewing profile procedure
that allows you to match the monitor view to the final print.

>It's just 
>gonna shoot some toned ink out of the yellow nozzle when the driver 
>calls for yellow, some different toned ink for cyan, etc.

With a grayscale file, there is ink shooting out of all the nozzles.  The
CMY "neutral" EZ inks are all the same density and hue.  (Likewise for the
warm inks.)  You can vary the final print tone or hue by putting in one or
more warm (pure carbon pigment) carts.  So, you can control the final print
tone/hue with the ink installation arrangement.  You can also print on
either matte or glossy by installing different black inks, or the "Universal
black" that has some dye and is less lightfast.  MIS now has poppet C86
carts that make this easy and also can be easily re-filled forever -- very
nice indeed.  
(See http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/c84refill.html) 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com