Digital BW, The Print

Hello George,

>I'm considering a purchase of the Epson 2400. I now do B&W on a C86 
>with EZ MIS inks and color on an R200. I want to go larger format. 
>Should I go to the 2400 for both color and B&W or, once again, 
>consider a separate B&W printer? I can acquire a used 1280.
> 
>Those who are using the 2400 for both, are you using just the ABW 
>or adding in a RIP or replacing the K inks with carbon inks?
>I print mostly on matte papers and do both warm tone and neutral 
>prints.

With so many options available it's hard to make a decision. 
Answering these questions may help narrow it down:

1) Do you want to do both color and BW with one printer?

2) Do you like working with curves/profiles and RIPs or would you want
a simpler workflow with the native printer driver?

3) Do you have any preference for tonal range obtained by mixing color
ink dots on the paper vs toned grayscale inks?

4) If you're ok with the color ink dot approach, do you prefer that
yellow is included or omitted in the toning?

5) Do you want to use bulk inks with refillable carts or prefer
prefilled carts?

6) Are you averse to combining inks from different sets or would you
prefer a complete ready-made ink set?

7) Do you like experimenting and testing or do you prefer to find
something and settle down with it?


It's amazing that there are so many ink/printer combinations and
various ways of using them that even as it's gotten easier to make
good BW prints it's also gotten harder to decide what to use.  With
the 2400 alone there are already four or five different ways to use
it.  I think if you have solid preferences or answers to these
questions it will be easier to find the solution that's best for you.  

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm