Digital BW, The Print

John,

>1) Does the UT7 (for my 2200) work for both B&W and full color? 

No, it is a dedicated B&W inkset.  It is a "variable-tone" inkset in that it
can print a wide range of "traditional" B&W tones or hues, from colder than
the coolest silver print to sepia.

>2) Do the non-Eboni MIS pigs differ significantly from the Epson pigs?

Epson pigs are coated with acrylic (UC Matte black excepted), the MIS UT
pigs are non-coated.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both
technologies.  From a user perspective, I like the idea of the 2 basic
technologies competing.  That is one reason I published a UC-based UT7
formula.  One can use UC blacks with the MIS inks, sometimes with good
results.  Which gives a better dmax depends on the paper and printer.

The latest MIS pigs use a new pigment to replace the magenta that makes them
considerably more lightfast.  The UC inkset will not be able to take
advantage of this new pigment.

>3) Can Eboni pigs be used WITH my inventory of Epson pigs? 

Eboni can be used in place of UC MK.  Eboni is cooler, but UC MK is more
dense.  The density differences were small with most printers, giving the
Eboni the edge, because relatively cool black looks darker than warmer
black.  However, in the 4000, the UC MK advantage might be significant
enough to use it even with UT7.

>(***which non-Epson pigs must I order initially?)

I'm not sure what you're asking here.  If you mean what inks are necessay
for the printer to be a full UT7 printer, the entire set of UT7 inks is
useful.  The MIS LK in the UT7 is neutralized.  So, the UT7 inkset will give
more neutral shadows.  If you like warm prints, then the UC MK, PK and LK
can be used, I think.  

Note that I have seen some differing results with mixing the coated and
uncoated pigs -- like using Epson PK with MIS grays.  Usually it seems to
work, but on at least one printer (my 7500), the mixing caused a visible
roughness.  I assume this is due to the large 7500 dots and the difference
in the amount of gloss of the 2 technologies.  So, with the 2200, this
should not be an issue.

>4) Assuming I want to refill carts, what should I buy initially from
>MIS and what will I have to buy elsewhere? 

If you are going to fill carts -- highly recommended -- there is one other
issue.  Do you intend to use the sepia tone?  Pure carbon is very warm, but
not a true sepia.  If you do not want sepia, then don't buy the sepia,
yellow-position ink.  Use the light warm carbon ink -- Light Cyan position
-- to fill the Yellow-position cart.  This moves the slider-controlled tones
to be centered at neutral instead of medium warm.  It makes the
slider-controlled prints slightly more lightfast.  In general, it's better
to use as many of the printers jets as possible on a regular basis.

But, back to what to buy, get the inks in 4 oz. bottles.  Buy the empty
easy-refill carts -- get some extras to have around.  Buy about 10 10-cc
syringes and MIS needles (the long).  Buy a couple of each position chips to
have a few extras in case you get a dud or one that won't re-set.  Buy a
re-setter.

>5) Are there applications that perform comparably to ImagePrint for
>B&W, but cost less?  QTR?

For the inksets I work on, the Epson driver does an excellent job.  What the
RIPs and printer utilities can do that the Epson driver cannot is allow the
standard UC color inkset to make good B&W prints, even if not quite up to
what the dedicated inksets can do.  There may be other advantages, and I'm
exploring this.  But, there are clearly disadvantages to the RIPs, etc.
also.  I strongly encourage the development of QTR and IJC/OPM.  When they
are clearly an advantage, you'll see me using them.  For now, I'm staying
with the Epson driver.    

>6) QTR seems a compromise tonally, though better than the Epson driver
>alone, and it seems to have no capacity for layout... correct? 

I'm not an expert on QTR. 
 
>6) Does ImagePrint seem a good tool for precise layouts of photos on
>prints (not talking about page layouts with type and graphics) or is
>that aspect better handled by another application? 

I'm not an expert in IP at all.  I generally don't find I need these layout
capabilities.  To the extent I do this, I just combine photos in Photoshop.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com