Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Ernst Dinkla
<E.Dinkla@...> wrote:
>
> Greg wrote:
>
> Greg,
> 
> I'm busy calibrating Fibaprint Gloss F with a Spectrocam and 
> do not get a higher Dmax than 1.94 with MIS UT PK on an Epson 
> 9000. I do not see much difference between the Status T, A or 
> E with this spectrometer. And the lowest L  is 11.80. With QTR 
> I have to limit on 60 in the calibration strip as there's no D 
> gain above that. Boosting doesn't help either. I have used the 
> Premium Glossy Photo Paper setting in QTR but do not expect 
> any difference with other settings and 1440 unidirectional.
> 
> Any suggestions to get a higher Dmax ?
> 

The only thing I might suggest would be to see if you can find a way
to make a pause between each pass. I found this through an error with
my RIP long ago. If the print was still spooling, and had to wait for
data, it would make a pass, and wait for data, then make another pass,
etc. The density of black and color was better than I could get when
it was printing at normal speed. But it's also been a very long time
since I've messed around with a photo black ink and luster or gloss
paper. I can't completely remember what I was getting for dmax, but
I'm pretty sure is was under a Lab L=10, a value of 6-7 on a luster
paper seems to ring a bell, but I'm not sure.

What do you get when you print the per channel limit/linearization
chart from QTR (or any other RIP)? Just wondering if you are getting
too much of a lighter shade mixed in to get a good dmax.

There is a new version of the Evolution RIP that is finally almost
ready to ship, mine will go out on Monday. This version has some new
B/W capabilities that might prove good. Unfortunately I need to
replace some of the flexible tubing in my 9500 before I can get things
working. And then I need to mix a couple shades of gray ink.