Digital BW, The Print

(The first attempt to post this appears to be failed.)

 

Although it sounds like you may be dealing with something other than a
difference in ink density, I've posted the procedure I use to accurately
compare inks.  See http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/Ink_QC.pdf    Even a cotton
swab can see major ink differences, but this draw-down procedure is a much
more accurate method.  Buying ink in bulk and comparing the old and new
bottles with a rod draw down is a way to assure consistency.  (Keep in mind
that there will always be small differences.  Be sure to agitate the inks
before comparing and loading.)

 

What workflow do you use in printing the UT2?  Curves (Epson driver set to
NCA), sliders (driver set to Color Controls), or QTR?

 

With the purge pattern use NCA (No Color Adjustment) in the driver to remove
the Color Controls' withholding differing amounts of the ink depending on
the ink position.  This should then give a good comparison of the inks.

 

Paul

www.PaulRoark.com <http://www.paulroark.com/>  

 

 

  _____  

From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
jimcongleton
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:51 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Ultratone prints turn dull and muddy

 

I have been using MIS UT2 inks in an Epson 1280 since last fall with 
wonderful results-within three weeks of receiving the printer, I was making 
better prints than I ever made in the darkroom. As one of a legion of
"silent" 
onlookers, I have benefited greatly from this forum and read it daily. Now I

have a problem with my printer (no, not clogging!) that has me stumped.

I don't print sepia, so use LM in the yellow position (the spongeless cart 
filling sequence from left to right is C, LC, M, LM, LM[in Y position]).
Several 
days ago I refilled the cart, using inks from an earlier order except for
the light 
magenta (LM), which I took from a recently purchased bottle. When I resumed 
printing, the prints were dull and muddy, with compressed gradation in the 
dark tones (and the 21-tone test chart printed with little differentiation
from 65 
to 85%). I printed the 6-color purge pattern and found that the LM/Y
position 
was very dark, close in tone and hue to the M patch. Thinking that I might
have 
mistakenly put M in the LM/Y position (unlikely, since the LM and LM/Y 
compartments were filled sequentially from the same open bottle, and I only 
open one bottle at a time), I rinsed out that compartment thoroughly and 
reloaded it with the new LM. The results were the same. 

The answer would appear to be simple: MIS sent me a mislabeled bottle of 
LM ink, possibly containing M ink. However, several other observations do 
not support this possibility: (1) although I refilled both the LM and the
LM/Y 
compartments from the same bottle, the LM patch in the purge-pattern print 
looks just as it should (about the same tone as the LC), and (2) to see if
the 
suspect ink was indeed M rather than LM, I diluted out aliquots of the M and

new LM inks and the found that the LM does appear lighter than the M (that 
doesn't confirm that the LM is formulated correctly, but it is not identical
to M, 
although it appears so in the purge-pattern print).

So, it appears that the LM ink in the Y compartment of the cart is for some 
reason printing much darker than it should. If this is not a banal problem 
involving the wrong ink, what are some other possibilities?

For whatever it is worth, I uninstalled and reinstalled the Epson driver
with 
no effect on the problem. Nozzle tests look fine (after the usual round of 
cleaning cycles). I'm not sure what to try next.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Jim Congleton

 



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