Digital BW, The Print

Hello Tyler,

>Nope, one of the first tests I did here was an ABW test on EEM when
>the 9800 came in the door...But it changed hue down the ramp in an 
>>unattractive way...
>The monochromatic inksets are still making the nicest prints here. 
>I think nice work can be done with ABW, but some things have to fall
>into place and some testing done to find the sweet spots on a given
>paper, as Clayton suggests.

It's not just ABW.  As Bruce alluded, I've seen it in everything I've
tried, including UT7, UTx3, and UT-R2 and various mixtures thereof,
and in most things I've seen from others in exchanges.  It seems go go
with the territory of using color inks, and is one of the reasons I
stuck with BO for so long.  I'm sure you and Bruce are right on about
the Cone monochrome inkset.  The samples I saw were impressive.

What made me accept ABW as a viable solution was a combination of two
main things: 1) the driver allows easy compensation for the color, and
I found I could control it to my satisfaction, and 2) ABW is a "dotty"
system, in that it allows some bare paper to show through in the
highlights, and therefore has very nice luminance similar to BO's (not
quite as intense, but far better than the veiled look of so many other
systems with 100% coverage).  Besides those, it has excellent Dmax,
acceptable longevity ratings, and most important, if I do careful work
the prints are pleasing to my eye.  So it all added up for me and I'm
satisfied for now.  

I was also tired of searching.  I want to be a photographer, not a
perpetual experimenter.  I'm now making prints from last year's Death
Valley trip and have recently published a portfolio which I'm very
happy with - and thank goodness I'm not fussing with inks.

Regards,
Clayton


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