Digital BW, The Print

Antonio,

the 3800 (and similar in the Epson range) offers an ABW mode in the
driver that works very well. I have only used it to produce so-called
"glossy" B&W prints and I am very happy with it. Assuming your monitor
and workflow is accurately profiled/color-managed, you won't need any
profiles to use any of the current fiber based semi gloss papers. I
have not tried it (yet) for matte papers.

Now, having said all that, here is a broader perspective: With the
3800 and ABW you get maximum convenience (mine was perfectly
linearized out of the box) and a very decent B&W print quality. Good
enough to hang and to sell. 

But it does not represent the ideal in digital B&W printing. Here is a
short list of the reasons for that:
- Using OEM inks means you have full color dots mixed in with your grays.
- The Epson ABW driver offers very limited control of tone across the
scale. Even other drivers that break up the gray scale in three parts
and control color separately in each don't come close to what a true
grayscale RIP could do.
- Down the line, after the Epson 3800 has been used for a while -
maybe a year - I don't know if it will hold its linearization as well
as it does when new. If that happens, the ABW driver offers no way to
re-linearize. 
- Producing a grayscale out of a black and two grays is inferior to
using several shades of gray, even if the dot size is as small as
current technology.
- The 3800 (unlike its bigger/newer brothers) does not offer
pressurized carts. I don't know how this will affect consistency over
the long run.
- The 3800 uses relatively small carts, making ink more expensive if
you produce large volumes of prints. The 4xxx line may cost more and
take up more room but will be cheaper in the long run.
- The 3800 offers only partial convenience in swapping matte Black and
glossy Black. Both carts are installed but when you swap, you need to
wait and waist some ink while the printer purges the line that is
common to both inks.

As a final note, consider the 17" Canons too. They are bigger and cost
more but are faster and having more primary colors on hand gives them
an edge if you ever need to run color prints. I believe they have
separate lines for the two Black inks. They do have an ABW mode as
well as a dedicated B&W RIP available. The Lucia inks have similar
life expectancy as the K3. 

Choosing one over the other is a matter of your budget and space as
well as the kind of use you have. I found my 3800 as a refurb at the
Epson site for under a grand. Considering my low volume,
semi-glossy-print needs and lack of space, it fit the bill perfectly.
Your mileage may vary....

Antonis



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Antonio
Fernandez" <tlaloc_aif@...> wrote:
>
> well, my espon 1280 finally died. does any one have experience with an
> epson 3800 printer for printing black and white photos? thanks in
> advance for information.
>