Digital BW, The Print

Wow, Clayton! Thanks for the detailed report.

I just hooked up my 2400 for the first time last night. After 
installation (which rarely goes as planned and always leaves me 
wondering if everything was done properly) I got to play around w/ it 
for only an hour.

Upon installation I downloaded the following paper profiles from 
Epson, double clicked on each after download which supposedly 
installed them: http://www.pbase.com/vinke/image/64958455
The first icon I downloaded would not open. It was something like 4 
profiles/curves/plugins or something from a 3rd party company that 
offered a B&W conversion work flow among other things? Any idea what 
that was and how to install it properly?

Not using any particular settings, I simply tried a color & b&w test 
print. The color turned out pretty good (maybe a bit more red than 
acceptable) while the b&w was quite dark w/ little shadow detail.

Then I did as you recommended and made quarter sheets to experiment 
with w/ EEM. I tried as best I could to follow your instructions 
here: http://www.cjcom.net/articles/digiprn9.htm

I got hung up on your very first instruction re: driver settings in 
that I was NOT able to choose from Velvet Fine Art Paper here: 
http://www.pbase.com/vinke/image/64957444
In fact, 2 or 3 of the other paper choices are also "grayed out" and 
not selectable. If memory serves me I simply chose the "Enhanced 
Matte" or "Heavyweight Matte" option instead. Any idea why I could 
not choose "Velvet"?

Per your "other options" instruction I was finally able to choose 
from "Advanced B&W Photo" mode. I'm not sure why, but several times 
when I tried it was not selectable. Any idea why?

After adjusting your "driver settings" (with exception of the "Velvet 
Fine Art Paper") instructions I got what I'd consider to be a very 
nice b&w test image! Thanks.

I've yet to read anything beyond your "Driver Settings" instructions. 
When I have time to read the rest of this 
http://www.cjcom.net/articles/digiprn9.htm some of my other questions 
might be answered.

I recently switched to Mac and the look of the Espon "driver" is very 
confusing to me. For example, the "print with preview" here 
(disregard the color image): http://www.pbase.com/vinke/image/64957448
Does this have anything to do with the Epson driver? How important 
are these settings to getting good print results? In particular, what 
should I select for "color handling", "printer profile", "rendering 
intent", and "black point compensation"? For example, for 
the "printer profile" I think that I ended up choosing "Dot Gain 
20%", but could have just as easily picked "2400 EEM best"?

Compared to my 4+ year-old 1280, the 2400 prints ultra fast and is 
whisper quiet.

Regards,

Kevin