Digital BW, The Print

So I asked MIS what the story was with their gloss optimizer and whether it
was true that they were not happy with it as their website implied.  I also
asked if they had any insight as to how it was laid down by the R800.  Here
is their response:

"Basically you are correct, we were not satisfied with the quality of the
gloss coating. Although it does look okay it did not meet the standards we
are trying to achieve.
 
With regard to the R800, to our knowledge the system does spray an after
coat. The system actually may use the gloss coating in various way depending
on the paper selection. We are not that familiar with the specifics of the
printer operation.
 
As for attempting to use gloss in a non gloss printer. Our experience is
that these efforts continually fail. There are just simply too many
variables that effect the use of gloss, and trying to use it a printer which
it is not designed for is very difficult."

With respect to the first paragraph, I admire their honesty. The second is a
little contradictory.  I am not sure that the third is correct given we
don't seem to have clarity in the second.



> From: "Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 09:49:52 -0800
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: RE: [Digital BW] QTR and Gloss Optimizer
> 
> 
>> From: Steve Kale [mailto:stevekale@...]
>> 
>> Well I think the place to start is to better understand how the R800
>> actually works, ie Epson's intentions.  Is the gloss woven into the dither
>> or does it follow the ink lay down like a spray (in the way the
>> last set of
>> dots follows all the rest)?  Is it laid down evenly regardless of
>> the amount
>> of ink (ie does a 100% patch receive the same amount of gloss as
>> 0% patch)?
>> And yes there is no reason for the original print to be printed
>> on an R800.
> 
> I don't know where the Epson printers lay down GLOP: on top of only the
> black ink, on top of the other ink, or in the spaces between the ink. I
> would guess the latter, and one might be able to tell by watching the GLOP
> level on a light print versus a dark print. But it seems clear that it
> doesn't lay it down everywhere, or the GLOP cart would probably be quite a
> bit bigger. However, since GLOP doesn't have a color, it's probably harmless
> to the image quality to lay it down everywhere, the excess merely being
> wasted.
> 
> Another question is whether one should wait for the original print to dry
> thoroughly before using a separate pass (or separate printer) to lay down
> any overcoating. The glycols in Epson inks take several days to outgas, and
> I don't know if extra GLOP would just lengthen this a little, or
> fundamentally upset the drying process. I expect the GLOP may just be the
> same ink carrier without pigment.
> 
> --
> 
> Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul                mailto:pderocco@...