Digital BW, The Print

ayn,
Th you for the help!
Kurt
 


----- Original Message ----
From: Clayton Jones <cj@...>
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, December 31, 2006 8:49:50 AM
Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Entry Pathway to B&W Printing

Hello Kurt,

>Ckayton, I am using the 2200 at this time and am looking at switching
from color to mostly BW Printing. I am thinking of getting another
printer either the 1800 or 2400 and designate one for BW and the other
for color. 
>Any ideas of what printer should be BW and which one should be 
>designated color?

The only good BW coming from an 1800 that I have heard of is by using
3rd party inks and controlling it with a RIP (someone please correct
me if I'm wrong here). IOW, it would be a RIP-controlled BW only
machine into which you could put any ink you wish. In that regard I
don't know if it offers any advantages over your current 2200 (other
than being newer - 2200s have been known to wear out the paper
handling mechanism). So the 1800 might be the color machine with the
2200 dedicated to BW.

The 2400 is a different ball game because of the combination of K3
inks and the ABW driver. It can produce excellent BW as is without
need for a RIP (ABW is sort of a simple built in RIP), or a RIP can
be used with it for a higher degree of control. It's PK ink is better
than most on glossy paper for reducing bronzing and metamerism. 

You can also put other inks in it and control it with a RIP, which
puts it in the same class as the 1800 if used that way. So it seems
that the 2400 only makes sense when used with K3 ink (or the MIS
substitute), either with ABW or a RIP. It also has the advantage of
being able to do color prints when used this way, so it can serve both
purposes if you wanted just one machine.

So it comes down to how you intend to use the new printer, there are
many possibilities. For BW, If you're into RIPs and profiles and all
that and want to use a custom blend of inks then the 1800 is cheaper
and will be a dedicated BW machine, but you can do that with the 2200,
so the 1800 could be dedicated to color.

If you want no fuss out-of-the-box good BW then the 2400 is a great
choice, and it can do color as well (and can be controlled with a RIP
if you want to go that route - a RIP with K3 inks gives greater
control over the blending of the different inks, such as omitting
Yellow, etc). At the link below there is an article (#9) which
outlines a simple ABW workflow for the 2400, so you can get an idea of
how it would be to work this way.

It also depends on which type of paper you prefer, matte or glossy (or
both). The 2400 could be used with PK for color and BW on glossy and
the 2200 decicated to BW on matte papers.

There are several possible combinations, I hope this helps sort it out.

Regards,
Clayton

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




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