Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "grewd" <grewd@d...> wrote:
> 
> 
> I have been using inkjet printers to produce positives to use for 
> photoetching. I need the most opaque and consistent black possible to 
> block UV light during exposure. If the image uses different colors 
> each color has a different opacity to UV light and I get inconsistent 
> results. I just bought an epson r300 because I had read of the black 
> only option.I have tried printing a grayscale image in black only mode 
> on transperant film. The output has a blue tone and when I examine 
> with a loupe the dots appear both black and blue.

Are you printing on Pictorico OHP film? On my Epson 2200, It's normal for a black only print to have blue-green areas where the ink density is just right to get a certain penetration into the media.

Then again, could you have been using "monochrome" on the printer color settings? That's a lot different than setting up for "black only" ink.

> Can I make this 
> printer print a consistent black or is this a quality of the standard 
> black epson ink?  Does anyone have a recommendation of the best way to 
> obtain a very opaque and even black. Also what would be a good set up 
> to produce larger positives in terms of printers and producing an 
> opaque and consistent black.

How large? I get a pretty consistant transparency, using Epson's matte black ink on 2200 or 4000.

And on those machines, you can use QTR, and I've been working on ways of taking advantage of the differing UV transparencies of the inks...