Digital BW, The Print

From all the reports I've read from the beta testers I expected to find little or no gloss differential when using K3 Photo Black ink on Silver Rag in my R2400. Back in February, John Dean said "In tests on the Epson 2400 K3 machine, the black and white work was perfect using the ABW mode, very neutral, intense blacks, and no gloss differential or bronzing at all, none." However, I find the gloss differential glaringly obvious. The ink has a much higher gloss than the paper. I don't know how to account for this. Either there has been a change in surface between the beta versions and the current version or I am much more critical than others, having spent most of my life printing air-dried glossy in the darkroom and for the last few years using dye-based inks rather than pigment because of the differential problem. Maybe to others the differential seems negligible. Maybe I can learn to live with it but I'd rather not have to. 

 

I've tried everything I can think of to reduce the differential, including the Highlight Point Shift (which helps very little and makes this already dark paper still darker) and tinkering with curves, transfer function, ink configuration and, of course, paper selection. I have come to the conclusion that no tinkering with the driver will make any difference because any particular tone, for example, middle gray, requires that a specific amount of ink be laid down to achieve it and no matter what driver, profile, etc., I use, I will always come out with same specific amount of ink for that specific tone, resulting in the same amount of gloss differential. 

 

I would appreciate any suggestions, including alternate papers having the same, or nearly the same specs as MSR - 100% Rag, acid free and no brighteners. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Olaf Ringdahl

 

 

 

 




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