Digital BW, The Print

Steve,

>...  A RIP like QTR gives YOU (via
> curve construction) full control over the individual ink jets - as though
> you could control each ink with the Epson driver.  You can't do this with
> the Epson driver.

No, but you get indirect control.  Moreover, the Epson built-in crossovers
simplify the curves.  Total control can have its advantages, but it also
carries some baggage.

> Nonetheless you should be getting prints better than the Epson ones...

I wonder what you mean by this.

I've used the rips and strongly encourage their continued development.
However, so far there are only three advantages I see with them over the
Epson driver, and the ultimate quality is not better with the rips.

These are the advantage I see.  First, with the OEM UltraChrome inkset they
allow good B&W printing in the UC printers without the metamerism that Epson
driver & color inks cause.  However, the UC light black does cause some dots
in the highlights.  Looking just at the B&W inkset, the LK ink is over twice
the concentration of the light UT2 & UT7 inks.  For those who want the
ultimate in smooth highlights, the UT-FS-Y ink can be put in the UT2 & UT7
Yellow position.  This gives highlights that are dotless even under a loupe
when appropriate curves are used. 

Second, the rips allow one to add UC cyan, or UT7/UT2 dark gray inks to the
100% black spot to get better dmax on the 7600 with matte paper.  Just using
Eboni instead of UC MK is the easiest way to raise the 7600 dmax, however.
This gets you about half of the potential improvement over the UC MK.
Nonetheless, the dmax issue is probably one factor that will cause me to
start using a rip for the 7600, but in the meantime I'll make the usual RGB
curves.  PhotoRag with the Epson driver is getting a 1.67 dmax, which is
very respectable.

Third, the semi-automatic linearization that the rips can do make it easier
for most to correct for differences between printers, inksets and papers.  I
suspect that this is the primary reason those with the equipment to utilize
this feature would use the affordable rips.  This is the main reason I'll
probably start using these software packages for the 7600.

That said, the bottom line quality of the image the rips can make with
dedicated B&W inksets is not superior to what the Epson driver can
accomplish on all desktop printers I've tried.  

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com