Digital BW, The Print

palladiumprinter1 wrote:

> I am looking for a printer to do B/W printing. I need the best of the
> best as far as quality is concerned and need to make prints at least
> 16x20 in size.
>
> Fortunatley, I have a large job and money is not an issue.
>
> Based upon today's state of the art what would be the best combination
> of machine/ink/quality/rip etc. available.
>
> Thanks

All you need are four things really. A printer, an inkset, a RIP of some 
kind, and a densitometer or spectrophotometer to linearize the 
printer/ink/substrate you are using.

The printer of choice for B&W right now would have to be the 7600/9600 
Epson LF printers. This is because the third party inksets work with 
them, and if you want the best of the best, you aren't going to print 
with color inks. Personally, I've got a 7600, and I've regretted not 
having a 9600 a lot. If you've got the money and the space, get the 
bigger machine.

For an inkset, it depends on whether you want a variable tone or a fixed 
tone inkset. If you have a particular tone you are after and are willing 
to do the work to nail that tone, then the MIS UT7 inks would work for 
you. If you want a fixed tone ink that gives you the most stable tone 
you can get from black to white, then the Cone PiezoTones may be 
appropriate.

If you are using the PiezoTones, you could use the StudioPrint RIP which 
is excellent. You could use Roy Harrington's quad tone rip (QTR) for either.

If you are using StudioPrint, you can use a wide range of densitometers 
and spectrophotometers. If you are using QTR, I think it only supports 
the Gretag i1 equipment currently.

http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/bw2/index.html
http://www.inksupply.com/qn.cfm
http://www.ergosoftus.com/studioprint/
http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRoverview.html
http://usa.gretagmacbethstore.com/index.cfm/act/catalog.cfm/CFID/17719396/CFTOKEN/23956558/subcategory/Eye%2DOne%20Solutions/category/Eye%2DOne/browse/null/MenuGroup/Menu%20USA%20New.htm

There are of course more competition than just this.

Faced with your situation a couple of years ago, I ended up with the 
following:

Epson 7600
Cone PiezoTone inks (I'm still using the older selenium Piezotones. K7 
was just released)
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm paper
Breathing Color Brilliance II canvas
StudioPrint RIP
Eye-One Photo

The resulting prints have exquisite shadow detail with light airy 
highlights and a full range of tones. They are just beautiful. The only 
thing I miss about darkroom prints is the seriously deep blacks of which 
they are capable. But in the greater scheme of things, that's not a 
great loss in my book.
--
Bruce Watson