Digital BW, The Print

Arlene,

>I have UT7 inks in my 7600. When I print without using curves or 
>sliders, I get a good neutral print. 

I like the good news.

>But when I use any of Schwab's curves or Paul's slider suggestions,

I've never worked on a 7600, so I don't have any slider recommendations.  I
may get a 7600 soon, however -- if I can figure out whether the lower dmax
I'm seeing with the one I'm looking at is the ink, paper batch, or a bad
printer.

> the ink lays down blotchy - as though it was sponged on.

This sounds like a paper problem, or the paper being over loaded.

> The neutral setting looks almost purplish. 

Is this an old UT7 inkset?  I'm wondering if one of the inks has settled.
The sepia, if it has not been used, would be the primary suspect, but that
would not affect a neutral curve.

>I stay on RGB,8 bits per, set paper to Smooth Fine Art, 360 dpi,

You print at 360 dpi?  Do you mean the file size is that?  I print at 1440.


> HPR, Epson driver. 

>This is a new problem. A few months ago, I was able to 
>get all the tones from cool to sepia - with the same quality print 
>using the curves and/or the sliders.

Try printing a purge pattern and see if one of the inks is having a problem.


I'm curious how long the inks have been in the printer, how consistently
they have been used, whether the 7600 is on a stand as opposed to on a solid
table, and whether you occasionally withdraw the carts to agitate them.
 
Paul
www.PaulRoark.com