Digital BW, The Print

Hey, Lou,

Thanks, for the information. I would jump at the chance to use the 
profiles you've posted but I'm on a Mac. I would have to linearize with 
my scanner for the time being, but I'm OK with that. Still, I'm 
encouraged by your experience and will look into it further.

I've contemplated moving over to MIS inks (color pigs and quad) as 
Steve Kale has suggested, but would be limited by having to pay someone 
to create new color profiles for me. Operating on a shoestring budget 
is a pain and the costs of experimentation can add up quickly. I would 
rather lock into a sure thing than spend a lot of time trying to dial 
in solution that requires a lot of tweaking to get right.

I would like additional information. Where should I contact you?

Mark




On Feb 23, 2005, at 3:14 AM, Louis Dina wrote:

>
>
> Hi Mark,
>
> For color, I use PM5 to build custom profiles for the Epson driver.
> They work great and I see absolutely no need for a RIP for color.  In
> fact, I do a lot of press work at my job and use my 2200 with custom
> ICC profiles and the Epson driver for proofing.  My proofs are
> actually better than when using a number of RIPs.
>
> For B&W, I am using IJC/OPM with the Epson UC inkset.  I started with
> the profiles supplied by Bowhaus, but made some changes.  My spectro
> just made it easier.  I chose to remove yellow inks from all profiles
> (except sepia ones) to reduce metamerism.  Yellow inks are the
> biggest offender, and removing them has given me fantastic results.
> I always create a series of 5 profiles for each paper - Cool,
> Selenium, Neutral, Warm and Sepia.  OPM (the printing part of the
> program) allows you to blend two profiles with a 0-100% slider so you
> can obtain an infinite range of subtle tones.  I have posted 2200
> profiles (for the Windows Version) on this site in the Files
> section.  Papers include Ep Enh Matte, Ep Velvet Fine Art, Boab
> Entrada (BW and Natural), Somerset Photo Enhanced Radiant white,
> Kirkland Glossy, Ep Prem Glossy, and Lexjet Professional Semi Matte.
> They can be downloaded and used directly if you have a 2200 and the
> windows version.  Here is the link.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/6fksu
>
> These are linearized for my printer, but I have shared them with
> others and they have had great results without making any changes.
> Linearization is easy with a densitometer, spectrophotometer or a
> scanner, if required.  I'd just print a test target with
> linearization and inspect the target to be sure there are no color
> crossovers, and that there is good separation between all 26 steps of
> the grayscale wedge.  If so, you are ready to roll.
>
> I tend to build my 'neutral' profiles to accomodate the natural bias
> of the paper color.  So, my neutral profiles on a warm base paper,
> like Moab Entrada Natural, has a very minor amount of warmth to the
> grays, mirroring the natural paper white.  I just like the results
> better and it keeps the 'neutrals' more consistant from black to
> white.  Seems to look better to my eye and you don't get any jumps as
> you approach paper white.  A cold paper, like EpPremGlossy, may be
> slightly cool to work with the paper.  These are my preferences and
> can be adjusted easily by tweaking the profiles or blending.
>
> I don't use ProfileMaker when adjusting profiles (I only use this to
> build monitor and color printing profiles).  I do use my Eye One
> spectrophotometer and MeasureTool from Gretag to read the data.
> MeasureTool is a free download.  A spectro is not absolutely
> required, but it does provide some extra accuracy and flexibility.
> You can get outstanding results without one.  I hope this provides
> the information you wanted.
>
> My prints have awesome Dmax and are very neutral (when I want
> neutral).  I see no metamerism at all now that I have removed the
> yellow and the tonal gradations are silky smooth.  I may never move
> to Quad inks.  If I get a new 24" printer in the future for color
> work, I will probably try quads in my 2200.
>
> Contact me if you want additional information.
>
> Lou
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Mark Carstens
> <mathdude5@c...> wrote:
>> Lou,
>>
>> I've been contemplating a new color printer that would enable me to
>> dedicate my 2200 to B&W/quad inks, and appreciate your insight
> about
>> IJC/OPM. It'd be nice to avoid the cost of the second printer and
> buy
>> the Bowhaus RIP instead. My question to you is whether you'd feel
> the
>> same about IJC/OPM even if you didn't write your own profiles? In
>> short, does using Profile Maker 5 just give you a broader paper
>> selection above and beyond what Bowhaus already provides or are you
>> actually improving on established profiles?
>>
>> Thanks for your input.
>>
>> Mark
>