Digital BW, The Print

February 16th, 2011

Hello

1) I don't seem to be able to find out, whether it is possible to print Black only with this Epson Claria Photographic Ink (dye) multifunctional printer (a smaller version is the EPSON P50/Artisan 50).

2) In theory it should be possible, as this multifunctional printer can be used to print ordinary texts. 

3) I downloaded the "manual" and found out that "EPSON Archival matte" can be used, even thoug glossey paper would yield "better" results. In the good old days I used an EPSON 1160 either with OEM dye or a then popular MIS pigment ink, later a EPSON 2100, both of them in a simple Black only mode (being an old darkroom/TRI-x/M6 fan, i.e. quite prepared to accept "dots" as a sort of quality of a picture))and Archival Matte as the printing medium (and of course from time to the Hahnemühle cotton-rag stuff). 

4) Just in case "black only" is not possible, I am wondering whether QTR (the popular Quadtone RIP) could come in usefully, but I can't see any profiles for Claria ink nor can I see the respective EPSON printers listed there.

Thanks for any info

Chatzebussi

I don't know about the PX720D but I have been using the Epson Photo 1400
with an MIS black ink set and I've been very happy with the results.

The problem with using some of the dye based inks is that they aren't
always very neutral.  The Claria inks are supposed to be pretty good. 
Although I haven't yet figured out QuadTone RIP it seems that you could
specify the black ink and one of the colors as a "toner" but the process
may be fairly involved.

Paul Roark is doing some research into dye based inks in addition to his
pigment ink research.  You can read about his experiments on his web site: 
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/

Mike Durling

Original Message:
-----------------

From: chatzebussi chatzebussi@...
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:28:08 -0000
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] EPSON PX720D - any good for black only printing???


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"chatzebussi" <chatzebussi@...> wrote:
>...
> 1) I don't seem to be able to find out, whether it is possible to print Black only with this Epson Claria Photographic Ink (dye) multifunctional printer (a smaller version is the EPSON P50/Artisan 50).

I may be wrong, but I don't think QTR supports the printer.

If the Epson driver allows "black only" printing then that would be possible, but on most papers it prints with a rather green tone.

If there are carts available that you can fill yourself, then I've tested an inkset that you can adapt to the printer.  

See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/N-BW-VT-1-220.pdf

I think this will run in most if not all Claria printers and many if not most Epson printers.  You'd have to mix and profile it, however.

Hope this helps.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul" <roark.paul@...> wrote:
>
> "chatzebussi" <chatzebussi@> wrote:
> >...
> > 1) I don't seem to be able to find out, whether it is possible to print Black only with this Epson Claria Photographic Ink (dye) multifunctional printer (a smaller version is the EPSON P50/Artisan 50).
> 
> I may be wrong, but I don't think QTR supports the printer.
> 
> If the Epson driver allows "black only" printing then that would be possible, but on most papers it prints with a rather green tone.
> 
> If there are carts available that you can fill yourself, then I've tested an inkset that you can adapt to the printer.  
> 
> See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/N-BW-VT-1-220.pdf
> 
> I think this will run in most if not all Claria printers and many if not most Epson printers.  You'd have to mix and profile it, however.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com


Chatzebussi to Paul and Mike

Thanks Paul and Mike for all your info.

Yes, there is a greenish cast or at least a certain unevenness along the d-curve reminding me of the EPSON 870 dye printer as I take it from this review:

http://alatest.ch/apps/reviews/31826201/-1/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Falatest.ch%2Fprofessionelle-testberichte%2Fdrucker%2Fepson-stylus-photo-px710%2Fpe3-51519533%2C31%2F%3Fall%3D1

So I'll have to wait until someone comes up with a "ready made" solution.

Chatzebussi

"durling@..." <durling@...> wrote:

>... 
> Paul Roark is doing some research into dye based inks in 
> addition to his pigment ink research.  You can read about
> his experiments on his web site: http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/

There are, as usual, a number of options with respect to using the dyes.  Illustrative of my opinion with respect to quality is that I went to make a custom Valentine's card for my wife using my normal Eboni-4 Plus inkset in the 1400.  (See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eboni-4-Plus.pdf )  The "Plus" is a 2-position (C and LC) channel that can have a variety of different inks.  The default inks are MIS UT14 C (a neutralized PK) and LC (a neutral-cool LK).  They are pre-loaded, ready to go cooled carbon pigments that can make nice neutral-cool glossy prints or be used to tone the Eb4 on matte paper.  At the time I went to make the cards I had HP Z3100 PK and LK in the Plus spots.  The other set of inks I've used in the Plus spots is the Noritsu-Epson-Claria dye mix.

At any rate, I printed a card with the HP neutral glossy inks.  I thought the card just looked awful with the bronzing and veiled dark shades.  So, I pulled the HP inks out and put in the dye mix.  What a difference.  (Note that this was on high-gloss Red River metalic pearl card stock -- see http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66lb-polar-pearl-metallic-inkjet-photo-paper.html .  For a more subdued look with little bronzing, the UT14 inks or HP inks mixed with MIS glop make a every good choice.)

To make it easier to put together a full inkset, I'm going to edit the current PDF -- http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/N-BW-VT-1-220.pdf -- to make it into a generic, easier to mix approach that ought to work in many Epson printers.  Of course, this is not for the top fine art or other archival uses, but for fun and great looks, it's hard to beat.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com