Digital BW, The Print

On Wednesday, November 17, 2004, at 09:03AM, <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

>Message: 6         
>   Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 06:22:38 -0000
>   From: "zdirk99" <ausdlk@...>
>Subject: BO or Piezography BW icc ?
>
>
>Okay all you gurus out there, I want you to weigh in on this before 
>I start flashing my credit card around. I do not have a printer 
>suitable for high-quality black & white printing so I'm starting 
>from scratch.
>
>Please vote and offer your suggestions/recommendations on (A) or (B) 
>as a starting point for an experienced computer user, photographer, 
>and darkroom trained b&w printer. Of course, if you have a (C) or 
>(D), I'd like to hear about those too.
>
>(A) an Epson 2200 with Eboni inks and Epson Enhanced Matte paper for 
>black only (BO) printing as described by Clayton Jones at 
>http://www.cjcom.net/articles/digiprn3.htm
>
>(B) an Epson 1280 with the Piezography BW icc system as hawked by 
>the InkjetMall at http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/bw2/bw-buy.html


I think BO wins in terms of simplicity, but the Piezography prints are quite stunning as well. The only downside is that you have to dedicate the printer to that purpose. The BO approach lets you use the newer printer technology and has the flexibility to print color as well.

I will add an option C:

A top notch custom profile for the paper you intend to use might get you to where you want to go. In the end this will be more flexible than Piezography and will give you a richer print than BO. I suggest profiling the device in PhotoRealistic mode, which reduces the gamut a little, but yields much more accurate profiles for printing B&W. There is a PDF up on my web site outlining this approach.

Good luck,

Eric Bullock
PixelPusherz Imaging
www.pixelpusherz.net