Digital BW, The Print

Richard,

You asked, in part:

>Paul,
>I'm trying to get someone's evaluation of IJC/OPM for monochrome printing. 
> ... Is IJC worth my investment?

It depends -- lots of variables.

It has been for me.  

Currently, for example, I need a rip to solve some pragmatic printing
issues.  (See for example, http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/4K+.pdf )  I needed
more control of the inks than the Epson driver allowed.  So, I turned to the
rip that I know how to use.

(I'm not familiar enough with the actual use of QTR beyond the Create ICC
level to compare them as rips.  I hope to get down that learning curve
also.)

In the past, I've used curves in Photoshop to control inks.  So I found the
IJC curves a rather easy workflow to get into.  With the rip ("raster image
processor" -- or non-Epson printer driver) and Excel's graphing of the
ColorVision PFP Spectro output from reading test strips, I think I can make
profiles more easily and accurately than I've been able to in the past.  

Of course, I would like the process to be even easier, but with my printers,
including the old 7500, the rip allows me to solve some problems that I
could not solve with the Epson driver. 

If one enjoys operating at the manually-controlled profiling level, a rip
can be a very satisfying and useful tool.

One of my goals, of course (being cheap), relates to the availability of
standardized, commodity inputs, as well as a workflow that would allow me to
use multiple printers and jump from one Epson to another most efficiently.
A rip appears to facilitate that approach, with, of course, the printers I
happen to have.  

For most of the market, I suspect the K3-type machines and approaches will
dominate.  I have no doubt that with good profiles or optimizing the ABW
mode controls the K3 outputs can be outstanding.  I'm impressed with what
I've seen (especially with carbon in the yellow spot).

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com