Digital BW, The Print

Chris,

> ... 
> > I'll be trying to mix an inkset for the R200 very soon also.
> > It might be even better, since it has the light inks.
> 
> This is a B+W inkset? Will this feed back up to MIS? I ask as here in the
> UK, there is about £10 difference between the C86 & the R200. 
> So if there is a B+W R200 inkset in the (near) future, 
> it may change my purchasing decisions.
> ...

Yes, I'll be starting on making a B&W inkset for the R200, probably today.
I tried UT2 in it, and the technical quality of the image was amazing.  With
the printer selling at Office Depot in this area for $69, it may set a new
price-quality standard. I think MIS aggress and will mix the set as soon as
I find a formula that works well.  On the other hand, we know the C86 works,
and there is uncertainty with this new printer.

The UT2 inkset was a bit too dark for the r200, especially the shadows of
glossy prints, and the shadows were too warm with sepia loaded.  So, I'm not
going to just use the UT2 approach.  In fact, I'm inclined to go with a C86
EZ approach -- monotone inks where the tone range is controlled by plugging
in different carts and densities are mostly controlled with driver sliders
and settings.  If there are any curves, they'll be simple, supplementary
ones like I've made for the C86.  I think simple grayscale curves, which can
usually be applied as Transfer Functions in the "Print with Preview"
approach, are the only ones most people can deal with in terms of
fine-tuning ("linearizing") their own systems.  And, frankly, the best
prints are usually those using the Epson driver with close to its default
settings.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com