Digital BW, The Print

The R260 is becoming a contender for third party printing.

 

I've been using R260 carts and chips from MIS lately, and they seem to be
very good.  They are now available at
http://www.inksupply.com/epsoncarts_xx.cfm   Just scroll down to the 260. 

 

It will probably take MIS a few weeks to get the B&W alternatives I've been
using in production (full R2 type inkset and various black only options).
However, in the meantime the MIS K4 color pigments work very well in the 260
(with the caveat, below).  They can be purchased in bulk
(http://www.inksupply.com/arcink_k4.cfm ) and loaded into the empty carts
above (not the LK and LLK, obviously).  You'll save lots of money going this
route.

 

The MIS K4 color inks were not very close in terms of color balance.  While
MIS and others will, no doubt, make ICC profiles for these inks, I was
curious what my usual Photoshop types of adjustments could do.  I was,
frankly, amazed that it didn't take long at all to get far better results
from adjustment curves than Epson was getting from its built in profiles for
it's Claria inks. (I know the Claria inks get great reviews, but my prints
with the built in Epson driver profiles were not impressive.)

 

I've posted my "profiles" on layers that are on 2 images that have
instructions regarding the settings.  These can be downloaded from 

http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/260-Color-Printing-Layers.zip 

 

The matte paper profile works for EEM (UPPPM now), Photo Rag, Premier Art
205, and Epson Matte HW at least.  These are the only papers I've tried.
The usual driver controls remain available to fine tune papers if the
profiles are not right on.

 

There are 2 glossy profiles.  One is for RC types of papers and works on
Kirkland, and the Epson Premium Glossy series, at least.  These are the only
RC papers I've tried.

 

The second glossy profile is for the FB papers - Crane SR and Innova F.
(Premier Art Platinum is not recommended.  Not only does it need a different
profile, but its dmax is low without a rip.  It does very well with the soon
to be released PKN2 Black Only mode.)

 

The profiles, in fact, were made with PKN2 loaded.  It is not available yet,
but K4-PK will work, just making the deep shadows warm instead of cool.

 

I have to modify my previous statement that the 260 will feed any paper I
use.  The Premier Art 325 needs a very slight assist.  No other paper I've
tried needs any assist - an amazing performance for a desktop printer.

 

Note that the chips MIS is selling are auto-reset.  They will continue to
show the same amount of ink used when changed until they are so low as to be
close to empty.  Then when you replace one all will be reset to show full.
So, run them down and then refill every position.  

 

The chips are on small carriers that simply slide onto the front of the
carts, which are all the same.  (It might be a good idea to mark the chip
with what position it is.)  I've been using the same set of chips on the 30
or so carts I've gone through.  Not a single chip or cart was un-usable.
Only one cart showed a slight leak from the outlet when refilling.  The
plugs on the carts have handles on them, so they are very easy to deal with.
With the usual initial priming, I've never had to do more than one cleaning
cycle to get a new cart started.  I've seldom had to do any cleaning at all
with this printer - no clogs at all.

 

The little R260 looks like a winner.  We won't miss the C88 and R220 from
what I've seen so far.

 

Paul

www.PaulRoark.com <http://www.paulroark.com/>  

 



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