Digital BW, The Print

Hi Paul,

Thanks so much for the profiles and the info.  I had to wait a few
days before trying this out as two of my el-cheapo E-bay refillable
carts had bad chips.  Fortunately the seller was top notch and
replaced them quickly.

After much fussing with calibration and linearizing I just had my
first letter size print roll off my R280 using a 50/50 curve blend of
a 3MK and a 3Y3K on Epson UPP (EEM).  Wow, WOW, WOW!!!!!  This is
better than my darkroom work of many years past (not that I was all
that great at it).  I'm going to be having a lot of fun and I see
significant risk of a 1400 in my future.  Can't wait to try my other
papers.

I might bug you with a few questions if you can tolerate them:

- I saw some of your profiles were 3Y1K as you pointed out in your
post.  I decided to go with 3Y3K to mix with my 3MK assuming my K/C/M
carts would be more likely to run out together this way.  Thinking
about how the curves blend my neophyte mind couldn't think up an
advantage to using 3Y1K instead.  Do you have a reason you like 3Y1K
instead 3Y3K?

- First shot at my 3Y3K profile I did the standard ink calibration
procedure and came up with a Y density of 1.8 (K at 100) which seemed
to jive with what I thought was the Y dilution of 2%.  I did a 21 step
and it seemed the K was cutting in a bit early (could see dot pattern
more easily than I expected).  Then I noticed in your "start" profile
and other YK profiles you have a Y density of 5 set, so I did this and
think I got better results.  It is clear from my calibration print
that the Y density isn't as high as 5.  Did you up the density on
purpose to postpone the entry of the K inks?  Any error in the ramp as
a result of the "erroneous" Y density would then be corrected in
linearization?

- I notice the 3Y3K profile is a bit warmer than the 3MK profile
particularly in the brighter mid-tones.  What causes the shift, I
thought the Y ink was just diluted K ink?  Or is it the agents used to
dilute it that give the tone?  Do you think that tone will shift with
time if it isn't a characteristic of the carbon?

Again, thanks for the info.  Your website has a truly staggering
amount of great information on it!  And feel free to ignore most of
the post if all my questions are getting annoying.

Ken