Digital BW, The Print

I'm new to this group and am impressed with the wealth of solid information
about high end digital black and white printing. I have printed for 30 years in the 
darkroom and am now interested in publishing/ sharing my work with my local 
community (primarily as gifts and fund-raisers).  

I have several Black and White photo book projects I would like to print (small run for 
friends) and postcards. These aren't huge runs (20 15 page books, a hundred 
postcards).  But I want the process to be easy and on-going as I complete new work.

I'm having trouble sorting out all the variables.  

After searching this website I just tried testing black only printing (matte paper ) with an 
epson R220 just using the standard Epson Black Ink.   Impressive results!  My work is 
portrait and street photography and I like the luminance of the black only prints.  I'm not 
looking for smooth, extremely fine detail. 

 I would like to emulate the look of a photo book (magazine type semi-gloss 
paper, 35mm triX, documentary look.) I'm guessing this might be  similar to the digital 
offset printing available at sites like MYPublisher but I prefer to do my own printing.


Before I invest in an inkset, paper combination for the R220 I would like more information 
on a wise path.

I don't need to print large...I'm happy sticking with the R220 if I can find an inkset/paper 
combination that will work well and is economical.  I would prefer semi-gloss paper if 
possible. I'm impressed with Paul Roark's and Clayton's information on using the R220 
with MIS inksets, but am not sure if that will work well for this project.   I'd like to print 2 
sided and am concerned about ink offset on the facing pages.  I don't mind buying another 
printer if its a better solution. I occasionally will want to make large prints on Museo or 
Matte paper, but realize one printer may not do both jobs well, so am willing to come up 
with 2 different solutions if that makes more sense.


Here is my wish list for the Photo Book Project:

longevity is important, but durability of handling the images and ink and paper costs are 
equally important.

I would prefer an economical semi-gloss paper stock but will work with matte if
it makes other solutions more realistic.

I'm not interested in complicated profiles, etc.

I like the look of Black Only but that is not a make or break it issue.

Ease of use and economy of material costs are more important than extremely nuanced 
tones

I want the printer to work without a lot of clogging issues to deal with..

Size is not a huge issue.  8.5x11 is fine, but I don't mind investing in a larger printer.

I'm only interested in printing Black and White.

I don't mind investing a bit (around a $1,000) if the printer works well and does the job 
well.

Dye? pigment? Black Only? GLOP? Epson, Canon, HP?

I'm looking for 2 suggestions:

*An economical paper/inkset solution for the R220 for photo books and postcards 
(semigloss if possible).

*A hands down best solution: Printer/paper/inkset combo for photo books and postcards.

Thanks for helping me sort this out!

Steve