Digital BW, The Print

On Aug 25, 2005, at 7:22 AM, John Moody wrote:

>  Of course you need a good profile for the paper and your 2200, which  
> you would want in any case.

Jerry,

John's point is well taken. If you're trying to "proof" with a 2200,  
then a reliable profile is essential. That said, you will still have to  
apply adjustments, subtle or otherwise, to the image before you output  
to the larger format. It sounds like you do mostly color(?) work and,  
though I have used a 2200 for going on three years to print smaller  
editions of my color work, sending the images out for printing on the  
Epson 7600/9600 has been an adventure. Image tweaks, which, depending  
on the tonal range and color gamut of the image, can be significant,  
are needed to make the output just as pleasing from the larger format  
printers as the 2200.

In short, I don't consider my 2200 to be a spot-on reliable proofing  
device for the larger format Epsons, but that stands to reason, as the  
7600/9600 printers have a vastly different internal design, and far  
less variation between individual printer output. Short of moving up to  
a 7600 (or now the 4800 as they are supposed to be a smaller version of  
the 7800/9800, i.e., same inkjet scheme, etc.), it's been the next best  
thing. A custom profile for your 2200 can get you closer to what you're  
looking for in reliability, but it will only narrow the differences  
(between the 2200 and larger format) rather than eliminate them  
entirely. YMMV.

In the end, it depends on largely on the quality of the profile  
(customized for your printer versus generalized for all 2200s?) and  
probably even more on what you need to see in the final output to feel  
satisfied. Personally, I have been far happier with an on-site printer  
(for the reasons stated by others elsewhere in this thread) than I was  
when every file went straight to a service bureau's Lightjet. In my  
book, control is everything when processing images digitally (or  
traditionally, for that matter).

Just for perspective, you might download the these 2200 profiles and  
compare them. Once you've loaded the profiles, open an image in your  
image editing software, do a flatten/Save As and then either view in  
proof colors (or "convert to profile" ) and look at the different  
profile interpretations. It's a real eye opener. Yahoo's message format  
may truncate the links, so you may have to copy and paste.

 From the Epson site (they are part of the driver download):
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp? 
BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=14402&infoType=Overview

Bill Atkinson's 7600/9600 profiles made for Epson:
http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa/wa/default? 
user=billatkinson&fpath=Epson%209600%20Profiles&templatefn=FileSharing1. 
html

Nick Wheeler's epson 2200 profiles (for HPR, EEM and Epson Semi-matte):
http://lenscraft.com/profiles/wheeler/2200/

A bit long-winded, sorry. Hope this helps.

Mark

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]