Digital BW, The Print

Egads, I feel like such a knucklehead. Now I don't believe I really had DSS.

Both ConeTech and MIS got their respective packages to me Friday, so I was 
able to play with the CIS this weekend. Flushing out the CIS tubing was 
less of a hassle than I expected and I managed to fill the new cartridges 
with the MIS FS inks without making a mess. After printing out several 
flush patterns with the Epson ink, I reinstalled the CIS and shortly had 
clear nozzle checks.

Then I printed the gradient with the 1" block of 100% at the dark end. I 
was shocked to still see the same sudden drop at the 100%/99% line. After 
looking at the paper closer, I flipped it over, ran it though again, and 
was even more shocked to see a perfect gradient. I have been printing on 
the wrong side of the paper. I had no idea it would affect the density in 
that particular manner. This explains why I had a perfect nozzle check, but 
still had the cramped midtones.

So then I printed out the staircase example off the CD, correctly, and 
everything looks beautiful! Comparing this staircase print to one I did 
when I first installed the CIS (both Legion Photo Matte), I see that the 
original is a little warmer, and only a little. I think I can see a little 
bit more separation in the shadows on the FS print, but again, only a 
little. It's such a close call to my eyes. It's not a perfect comparison 
considering the aging factor, but I would have to say I like the FS print 
better. That may be because of the cooler tone on the recent print. So at 
least I didn't take a step back aesthetics-wise by switching inks.

I can't speak to others' experiences, but I think Cone's service was 
outstanding. This is an issue that no one has a real bead on and they still 
sent me the cartridges without a hassle. They offered it. Due to simple 
economics, I still would have gone to the FS ink once the Cone inks were 
gone, even if I hadn't had "problems". I'm working on a pretty low budget, 
which is why I'm using the Legion paper. Thankfully I really like it. For 
me, the main draw of the Piezo system over the others is the software, and 
it has been well worth that expense.

Despite my embarrassment and the fact that I probably owe Cone some money 
now, I didn't want my goof-up to skew any variables in the already complex 
situation known as DSS.

Anyway, it looks like I'm all set to crank out those exchange images. I'll 
make sure you get them on the correct side!

Thanks for everyone's time, especially Jim's. Sorry all.
Mark