Digital BW, The Print

I've found that starting one ink at a time greatly smooths out the 
highlights of the C88+ with "EZ" types of inksets.  I found with the 
R1800 3-MK that it worked well there, so I tried it with the C88+ and 
the Carbon 13.5% inkset I have in it.  The resulting greater 
highlight smoothness can be see in the 1600 dpi scans of the 5% 
patches, posted here:

http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/C88-Staged.jpg 

The dots some have been able to see in the C88 highlights are not 
single ink dots.  They are apparently  2 or 3 dots very close to each 
other.  With the staged or staggered starting points, the one ink 
separates its dots, making the highlights very smooth.

With the C88, and perhaps others in that family, one is usually 
better off optimizing the dmax by printing a 90-100% step wedge.  
Often the best dmax is at 91% or 93%.  So, previously I'd just run a 
straight line curve from 0% to, for example, 93% for all the colors.  
That curve can be embedded in an ICC to both optimize the dmax, 
linearize the output, and make the workflow "color managed."

Now, instead of running a straight line curve for all colors, I will 
have one color have points (0, 0), (5, 15), (10, 25), (15, 30), and 
25, 38), and then run straight to the dmax optimum point.  The other 
curves will be straight line, but will not start at (0,0).  Rather, 
one starts at (10, 0) and the other at (15, 0).  (I have not re-done 
the C88+ Carbon 13-5 ICCs at this point.)

Paul     
www.PaulRoark.com