Digital BW, The Print

Mike,

A RIP designed for B&W and toned monochrome will give you the best 
control and output since you can adjust ink limits, ink curves, 
linearization, the inks you wish to use, etc.  For the money, QTR or 
IJC/OPM are your best bets for a B&W RIP.  I use IJC/OPM and like the 
interface for profile building and editing, but they both give great 
output. Both will allow you to create profiles for any inkset you can 
fit into your printer.  ImagePrint does not allow custom 
linearization or profile building for B&W.  Other RIPs are much more 
expensive, but usually offer both color and B&W, and usually 
postscript.  

I'm not familiar with the 1160 so cannot offer constructive 
comments.  I'm getting great results from my 2200 using the standard 
Epson UC inkset.  I like this approach since I can use the same 
printer for monochrome and color work.  The 2200 is also designed for 
pigmented inks and I don't have clogging problems.  Another advantage 
is that the 2200 has loads of profiles for different papers and 
inksets.  

Lou

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Gerra" 
<mike@m...> wrote:
> 
> I'm a posting newbie, though I have read the expert comments on this
> forum for quite a time. I have a question, that has probably been
> answered before, but the sheer volume of posts is proving to be a
> daunting challenge.
> 
> Simply put, I'm looking to produce THE definitive BW print. To date,
> I've been using Photoshop successfully, but I'm constantly looking 
for
> ways to improve my BW prints. 
> 
> I currently scan film mostly with a Minolta Dimage 5400 and then use
> Photoshop for custom workflow. I use a trusty Epson 1160 for my 5x7,
> 8x10 prints with MIS Quadtone inks and, sometimes, Paul Roark's
> curves. If you need to see the type of images that I'm printing, 
check
> out my website: http://www.mikegerra.com/index.php
> 
> I'm trying to determine if I can get the next level of BW print by
> using a RIP such as IJC/OPM or QTR. Or, if my pennies would be 
better
> invested in a printer with finer droplets (such as Espon 4000) and
> sticking with PS and my curves. 
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Mike Gerra
> www.mikegerra.com