Digital BW, The Print

> From: Clayton Jones <cj@...>

> 
> Hello zumbergephoto,
> 
>> I just started using the Epson 2400 for B&W prints.  Wow!
>> Has anyone noticed that there is a bit of cyan even with the
>> Advance B&W setting, using Matte Black etc?
> 
> This is because ABW uses color inks to tone the blacks.  If you look
> with an 8x loupe you can see Cyan and Magenta dots (I can see them in
> a sample someone sent me).

That must be one hell of a lupe.  I can barely if at all see any dots on an
ISP 2880dpi Adv B&W neutral greyscale with my 6x6 Schneider.  At 6x there's
no way to see if there are colour dots - certainly none are obvious.  At
worst I would not expect to see any C or M, only perhaps LC and LM.  But the
light greys are quite neutral and so for a neutral profile I doubt there is
much of any cooling in the mid-tones to highlights.


> There is often a hint of some color or
> another whenever color inks are mixed in as toners, either with mixed
> inks or as dots on the prints.
> 
> Since you are using Matte Black, have you tried a Black Only print?  I
> have a 2400 BO print done with Photo Black that someone sent me and
> I'm very impressed with the smoothness resulting from the tiny dot
> size.  An MK version should have better dmax and be not quite so warm,
> and will not have the color cast.

The dMax is not even close to a PK/photo paper print.  The Adv B&W toning is
adjusted for the ink/media type and so both neutral settings are very
neutral.  Did someone send you a PK print to matte paper?  If so I would
simply toss it as it will be completely screwed up.

With Black Only on ISP the dots are much more visible.  Dmax is 2.58 (more
than 8 f-stops of dynamic range) out of the printer but I would expect this
to fall a little to 2.45-ish.  The hue is definitely warm as you would
expect.