Digital BW, The Print

Paul,

I just recently acquired an almost new 1160 to dedicate to B&W. I ordered  
the MIS UT-FSN ink set for it and I am using QTR to drive it. My first  
question is; I saw one of your earlier comments about longevity problems  
with an older version of the FSN inks. What do you think of the current  
version? I am considering the Eboni/Carbon-6 inks although it would be  
more rightly call Eboni/Carbon-4 in this case. So far, I am pleased with  
the tone of the FSN inks. How would the Eboni/Carbon compare? What  
dilutions would you recommend for a 4 color version? I would also consider  
Jon Cones PiezoTone inks and I don't print a lot, so the higher cost is  
not a significant factor.

Secondly, my first experiements have been on Red River Dourian Art paper  
which has been discontinued by Red River. Too bad, I really like the  
paper. Anyway, I have most of a 100 sheet box and I figure it was worth  
using. I am using an overall ink limit of 75% with black boost set to 95%.  
My ink partitions are 100, 47.5, 13, and 7. I printed the 21-step and the  
Northlight test print. On the graduated circles on the Northlight test, I  
got a beautifully smooth look. I measured the 21-step print with a  
Colorvision spectrocolorimeter, plugged the values into QTR's  
linearization, and reprinted the same tests. The prints were generally  
lighter overall, with more separation in the dark areas. The problem is  
that graduated circles now show some pronounced steps, not at all as  
smooth as the un-linearized print. Have you seen this and what should I do  
to try to fix this? I am not adverse to bringing the data from the .quad  
file into Excel and trying to just lower all the points, except the very  
black, by a given percentage. Would you think this is a viable technique?  
I know it would require some experimentation, bu hey, that's why I got  
this printer, to experiment!

Thanks,
Steve

On Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:11:47 -0800, pr_roark <paul.roark@...>  
wrote:

>
> MIS has 1160 inksets listed at http://www.inksupply.com/ut_kits.cfm
>
> Search by printer.
>
> The list includes the original "UT" (UltraTone) B&W variable-tone inkset  
> that should have 3 grays and a single cold toner in the Y position.  The  
> list also includes monotone inksets -- FS and FSN.  The FS is medium  
> warm and the FSN is neutral/cool.
>
> One can also use the Eboni/Carbon-6 inksets in the 1160 as long as you  
> know how to profile inks.
>
> My general index is at http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/ The 1160 and UT  
> inksets are too old to be listed there, but MIS might still have my  
> write-ups and profiles.  The index page above gets you to the newer  
> inksets.
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>
>

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