Digital BW, The Print

Based on your responses, for simplicity consider the Epson R2400, R2880 or R3800 in Advanced B&W mode.  

If printer and ink cost is a larger factor for you, the 1400 with the stock MIS inkset (forget the new fancy ones Paul is working on with HP ink and the like) looks like a great platform. The addition of gloss optimizer and lack of need to switch photo and matte black is a plus in my mind.  I haven't used this new system but am very happy with Harman FB Al prints done with my R220.

Roger


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, mike-theprint@... wrote:
>
> (urk, resend with right From)
> 
> Hi,
> 
> On Tue, Jul 07, 2009 at 03:23:16PM -0000, Roger wrote:
> > Amadou Diallo's book on B&W printing is still current and gives you a
> > useful conceptual framework to understand the issues- it's worth a
> > read.
> 
> I've glanced through it in the past; looks like I should order a copy.
> http://cjcom.net/articles/digiprn2.htm was also helpful (although the
> last update seems to be about a year ago).
> 
> > I think what you want to do depends on a few things- your tolerance to
> > learn specialized software (QTR),
> 
> I will if I must, but I'd prefer not to.
> 
> > desire to tone B&W inks,
> 
> I prefer neutral (or slightly toned) prints. As I understand it, some
> ink and paper combinations have significant tones, which require toning
> to counteract (potentially at the cost of lightfastness).
> 
> > desire to print on both gloss-type and matte papers,
> 
> I'm not particularly interested in high-gloss RC type papers; I like
> Ilford FB glossy's surface, and so at the moment I'm most interested in
> Harman FB AL. But I'm not wedded to it, and initially I'd like the
> flexibility to experiment with different papers.
> 
> I expect eventually to settle on one or the other, so I'm ok with a
> setup where switching from glossy to matte is clumsy or somewhat
> expensive, as in the long term I don't expect to do it much.
> 
> I would like to avoid a setup where I have to run a print through
> multiple times (e.g. to add a layer of gloss optimizer) or where I have
> to spray the prints after printing.
> 
> > maximum print size,
> 
> From Epson's printer pricing, 13" wide seems reasonable.
> 
> > size of willingness to blend your own inks, and willingness to
> > manually refill ink cartridges and maintain your printer.
> 
> I've never blended inks or refilled ink cartridges; blending sounds
> finicky and messy, so as a novice I'd prefer to avoid that. Refilling
> cartridges sounds like it's worth the effort.
> 
> It's likely that I'll be printing sporadically, and I'm willing to give
> my printer reasonable care and feeding.
> 
> > Give us your answers to the above and we can maybe guide you to an
> > appropriate solution.  
> > 
> > Personally I'm happy with an R220 with MIS UT-R2 refillable carts (the
> > modern equivalent would be the basic MIS Epson 1400 inkset).  I can
> > print on glossy or matte, don't have to use QTR, can do basic toning
> > with the Epson driver, can print 8x12 and it's cheap to run.
> 
> Indeed, after my first round of reading it seemed like an R1400 seemed
> the way to go. The I started reading Paul's PDFs and it all started
> seeming potentially very involved....
> 
> -- 
>   | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org |
>