2L2LK Inkset with Red River Polar Pearl Metallic Paper
2012-04-21 by remononaz1
After a rough start (new cartridges that wouldn't vent, misunderstanding purge page results, etc.) I seem to have the 2K2LK ink on Red River Polar Pearl Metallic paper working. I am using MIS K, black ink, not Epson Claria, so it is to be expected that my results may be somewhat different than what others have seen. I have made prints using Paul Roark's RR-PPM ICCs, printer controls and ICCs created with the QTR create ICC tool. Here is what I have found. Paul's ICCs There are two ICCs for RR-PPM listed in the set posted at http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-CL-2K2LK-Profiles.zip. The ICC 1400-CL-2K2LK-RrMetal-PremLset-rgb.icc does not work well and prints a very light ramp. The second ICC, 1400-CL-2K2LK-RrMetal-UPGset-rgb.icc, prints a bit dark and the images have a fairly strong silvery-blue coloration. Printing a 21-step step scale with the `UPGset' ICC demonstrated that, indeed, the paper/ink combination prints dark in the mid range. Scanning and measuring the levels showed the following: 0-9, 10-18, 25-34, 50-61, 75-81, 90-89 (Just a few samples are shown for brevity; pure white on RR-PPM has a value of 9.) I attempted to create an ICC for the combination, but the results consistently were worse than the ICC Paul had provided. I decided to try a curves adjustment. A slight downward bow to the cure and a few tweaks yielded the following: 0-9, 10-16, 25-26, 50-49, 75-73, 90-86 This could be further finessed to make the ramp more accurate, but I did not do so. I saved the cure and can now add it to a print before printing using the `UPGset' ICC. Printer Controls The results of printing using printer controls in place of the ICC are striking. Most notably, the prints go from a silver-blue tone to a warm brown tone. It's quite nice if you want a warm coloration, though the combination of metallic sheen and warm tone seems a bit unusual. Again, the images print very dark. With the printer setting at gamma 2.2 the images are far too dark. At gamma 1.8 they are better, but gamma 1.5 is the closest to what is on screen. However, at gamma 1.5 I think there is some loss of contrast going on and I don't recommend using it. As using a curve with the ICC settings had been successful, I decided to try this again with the printer settings and created a new curve. Using gamma 1.8 and color mode Adobe RBG in the printer settings, I obtained the following unadjusted and corrected ramps: W/O Curve: 0-11, 10-24, 25-40, 50-67, 75-87, 90-93 W Curve: 0-11, 10-18, 25-31, 50-51, 75-77, 90-91 A couple of test prints demonstrated that other than the coloration, the prints made with printer controls and the prints made using the ICC, both including their curves, are very close in luminance gradation and accurate to the image shown on my monitor. Having already worked out a printer work flow for the UT-14 ink on RR-PPM, I now have three options that will accurately print a screen image on Red River Polar Pearl Metallic paper: 2K2LK + Printer Controls+ .acv curve = Warm, Brownish Print 2k2LK + UPGset.icc + .acv curve = Cool, Bluish Print UT-14 = Neutral Toned Print The Red River Polar Pearl Metallic paper makes black and white prints with a significant pop. It is a good choice for dynamic black and white prints and it shows detail well. The L2LK2 inkset adds the option of warmer or cooler tones at a very low cost if you already own a color ink set all you need are three empty cartridges and the PR-Clearbase.