Digital BW, The Print

Thanks Paul,

As I have been inactive in the printmaking department for a little 
overa year and a half it appears that I have a little catching up to 
do. I will be receiving an Eye-One outfit in a day or two and should 
be able to generate the necessary profiles. Mixing inks is an 
intriguing thought.

Thanks for your input.

Bob

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Bob,
> 
> > I am planning to set up an Epson 7500 printer for quadtone 
printing.
> > The printer is hopelessly clogged in the first two nozzles so I 
need
> > software that will allow me to reassign ink colors and switch off 
the
> > first two nozzles. I prefer to work on a Mac but also have a PC if
> > needed.
> > 
> >...
>  
> > Does OPM yield as good results as the others?
> 
> > The problem is that I have heard that neither of these would give 
me
> > the "grainless" dotless prints I have been getting with the R9
> > (Sundance) software. Is it true that the dotlessness in OPM only
> > applies to the highlights?
> 
> I just printed some test strips on my 7500 comparing the Epson 
driver and
> OPM.  The inkset I have in there has a light ink that is the same 
density as
> the Piezo lightest ink.  With an 8x loupe, I can detect some dots.  
However,
> the quality in any normal viewing would be extremely good.
> 
> The ink arrangement I'm using is what I call the UT-FSN+.  In the 
C, LC, and
> Y spots I have MIS UT-FSN tone inks.  The test strips I was viewing 
were
> glossy prints that just used these tree inks.  For matte paper I 
add a matte
> black (Eboni).  I only use the M & LM, which have pure carbon inks 
in them,
> when I want more warmth.  So, bottom line, your 7500 will be able 
to print a
> monotone, glossy and matte, with excellent results using OPM.
> 
> One thing I did to modify the usual MIS-FS/Cone-Piezo ink density
> distribution is move the M density closer to the C density.  The 
original
> Piezo densities had the 2 lightest inks very close, and then a 
major gap
> between the M and C.  I moved the middle density to more of a 
midpoint.  I
> did this empirically, trying higher and lower densities and 
examining the
> smoothness of the final print.
> 
> Bowhaus has made some curves already for the 7500 and this ink 
arrangement
> and is using the inks.  As such, you'll have ready-made curves 
(even if you
> have to alter their location) with OPM, the UT-FSN+ inkset and the 
7500.
> (My Photoshop curves probably won't do you any good.)
> 
> If you want to see more about the 7500 inkset I'm using and MIS is 
selling,
> see http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/7500-FS-Readme.htm .
> 
> While the inkset I'm using is neutral-cool, any tone between carbon 
warm and
> the neutral cool is easy to buy or mix.  Only the LC is a new ink, 
and it is
> close enough to UT7 LC (carbon) density that the old Piezo or MIS 
FS warm
> tones can be made just by mixing the 7500 FSN LC with UT7 LC.  The 
FS warmth
> is 50% carbon, 50% FSN.
> 
> At any rate, I can't give a comparison on the 7500, but I started 
with Piezo
> software (R9) and, while it does give dotless highlights, overall I 
would
> rate OPM as far superior.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com