Digital BW, The Print

Hi Tad.

I was in the same boat a year ago, except with a R300. With the R800 
you have the option of trying Piezo inks. I'm not sure about other 
inks sets, but they would probably work as well. 

Since then, I decided to buy an Epson R2400. I was pretty impressed 
eith the results out of the box using ABW. If you fiddle around 
enough, this may be all you need. I'm sure Clayton can help you more 
with that. I've seen some of his prints, and he is able to achive 
very good results with just the R2400 and ABW with Epson K3 inks.

I wanted to keep trying new things, so I puchased a set of 
Piezography NK7 inks. The switchover was fairl easy and you can 
always go back to K3 inks later. I purchased QTR for $50. So, with a 
minimum investment in time and money, you can get started on 3rd 
party inks and a RIP.

I have been pleased with the results amd am currently trying many 
different papers. I have not messed about with profiles yet, other 
than the canned profiles in QTR. That will be next. This set-up may 
not be the best if you do lots of colour printing due to the 
switching of ink carts.

Hope this helps. I thought a fellow digital b/w printing newbie 
opinion might help.

Paul 





--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "mbutler355" 
<mbutler355@...> wrote:
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tad Doxsee" 
<doxsee@> 
> wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> > 
> > This is my first post here. Sorry if I'm going over old ground. 
I've
> > read many of the posts here but I'm afraid most of them are over 
my
> > head. (I haven't learned all the jargon yet.)
> > 
> > I'd like to start exploring printing black and white digitally 
and am
> > wondering what a good next step for me would be. My source will be
> > scanned 6x7 b&w tmax 100 negs. So far, I've printed using my Epson
> > R800 priter using Epson inks on Epson Heavyweight Matte and Epson
> > Ultra Premium Glossy. I have Photoshop Elemenets, but not full 
Photoshop.
> > 
> > I'd like to get a bit closer to the results I've gotten from a wet
> > darkroom print on Oriental Seagull Fiber VC cooltone. What do you
> > recommend as my next step: diffenent paper or different ink or 
quad
> > tone rip? One or more of the above? Or should I investigate 
digital
> > inkjet negatives first. I'd appreciate any suggestions for a 
simple
> > first step.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Tad
> >
> Hi Tad and welcome.
> 
> With the r800, I think you'd want to investigate the piezography 
system of black and white 
> printing (piezography.com). On premium papers such as Hahnemule 
Photo Rag and 
> Somerset Enhanced Velvet, you can make very pleasing cold-tone 
prints that look 
> selenium-toned. 
> 
> However, if you eventually decide that you like the look of 
glossier papers, you'll probably 
> get frustrated with piezo. In that case, you haven't lost much. If 
you decide you like it, you 
> could easily step up to the r1800 and make larger prints.
> 
> Hope that helps a little.
> 
> Mike
>