Digital BW, The Print

Hello Patrick,

>Are the new Epson printers using the K3 inks that much better then
>the SP2200 for instance? 

Yes and no.  As Richard has mentioned, there are many combinations of
inks, RIPs and workflows that can produce very fine results with the
2200 (and other printers).  So in that sense, no the K3 approach isn't
"better".  However, from another point of view the K3 printers are so
much more advanced that they have completely revolutionized the
marketplace.  This viewpoint is that of the beginner.  

For most of it's existance as a technology, BW digital printing has
been a potential nightmare for people just getting started.  The K3
printers have made it possible, for the first time, for beginners to
produce good prints out-of-the-box with a minimum of fuss and bother,
with full expectation of success, and without having to resort to the
"high-tech" approach that requires using RIPs, profiles,
densitometers, linearization curves and all of that.

Since the k3 printers arrived, the traffic in this forum has steadily
lessened to about 1/2 or less.  Look at the message history figures.
The K3 printers arrived in summer 2005 when monthly message traffic
was routinely at 1500 or more, and occasionally over 2000.  By
September the numbers began to fall off, and beginning in April 2006
it stayed below 1000. The average for the first 8 months of 2005 was
1750/mo.  For all of 2006 it was 882/mo.  The nature of the messages
has changed as well.  Before K3, a dominant theme was anguish and
frustration centered mostly around dealing with clogs and struggling
to get good results using various curves, RIPs and workflows.  Now
there is more discussion re the attributes of various papers and inks,
and there is a marked lack of anguish, frustration and struggle.

How have the K3 printers managed this?  It's not just the ink, but a
combination of the ink and the ABW driver, which is sort of a built in
simple RIP which combines the inks to create the BW tones.  We used to
have to use a 3rd party RIP, at some expense, along with all the rest
of the high tech approach in order to get good results, whether with
color or grayscale inks.  Now it can be done without all that (article
#9 at the web site below has a detailed outline of using the 2400 with
a simple workflow).

K3/ABW isn't perfect, though, and using a separate RIP with
densitometer and other approaches can still provide a greater degree
of control and some degree of improvement over the results.  But at
this point it's a matter of whether the photographer has the
inclination and motivation to put forth the extra time and effort to
get the relatively small degree of improvement.  But it's no longer a
requirement.  There are legions of darkroom practitioners making the
switch now, more than ever before, yet this forum, which has
historically been a place to get help with problems, has greatly
reduced traffic.  That's a huge difference.  It's a whole new world.


>I have an SP2200, but haven't used it much. I'm thinking of gearing 
>up for more serious involvement in my photography and had scound
thoughts about the printer I currently have. 
 
In the above sense, K3 is better, but it doesn't mean you have to
abandon your 2200.  It's more a matter of how you wish to go at it. 
If you want to stick with the 2200 you'll find lots of good help and
advice here.

There are, however, some reasons to seriously consider moving to a K3
printer, and that is the papers.  For people using glossy papers the
k3 ink is a huge improvement (greater dmax and less bronzing and gloss
differential).  But there are also some new papers that are neither
matte or glossy, but are sort of a combination of cotton base with a
semi glossy surface which strives to replicate the air dried fiber
based glossy (ADFBG) look and feel.  From all reports, the K3 inks
seem to do a better job than other inks with these papers.  This is an
emerging technology right now, and my impression is that people who
want to get on that bandwagon need to be using K3 (someone correct me
if this is wrong).


>I came from a very traditional B&W large format background, but have
>gone digital and trying my hand at color as well. I'm starting to 
>pour through all the info, but there is a lot of it.

Please have a look at the articles at the web site below.  There's a
lot of good material there, both general and specific.

Regards,
Clayton


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