Digital BW, The Print

Ten years ago I spent quite a bit of effort trying to print acceptable black and white prints on an Epson 1280 with MIS inks and Paul Roark's guidance.  I gave up when my third set of print heads clogged and I could not get a Dmax above 1.6 with Epson Archival Mat paper.

After seeing the progress that has been made I want to try to again.  I have two questions:

Is the Epson 1430 output equivalent to the 1400 when both use the 1400 workflow and the MIS Eboni 6 ink set + Arches un-coated watercolor paper?

What work flow / software are you using to convert your camera files to B&W for post processing?

Thanks for your help

I'm 99% sure that the only difference between the 1400 and the 1430 is the wireless interface. The print functions are the same. There are several good ink strategies that have been developed by Paul Roark. I have used the UT-14 and 5/6UT-14 very successfully. The 2K-2LK is also good. Eboni-6 is appparently the best way to go now, but I have not adopted it yet. All of these techniques are very reliable and do not cause any issues with clogging. I've put some notes on my blog, remononaz.blogspot.com, which I would encourage you to read through. They are on the 'how to' tab. 

To answer your second question, I have been using Lr4 successfully for converting to B&W. It has a color panel that converts to black and white and then you can individually adjust each of the underlaying color tones to darken skies, fix skin tones, etc. It is fast, easy and effective. Occasionally I'll still output to CS4 and do further levels adjustments, but this seems to be less and less necessary. 

All in all, black and white printing on injet printers has truly arrived as a reliable, high quality art. 

Homer Shannon

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "rfsteckmeyer" <steckmeyer@...> wrote:

>
> Ten years ago I spent quite a bit of effort trying to print acceptable black and white prints on an Epson 1280 with MIS inks and Paul Roark's guidance.  I gave up when my third set of print heads clogged and I could not get a Dmax above 1.6 with Epson Archival Mat paper.
> 
> After seeing the progress that has been made I want to try to again.  I have two questions:
> 
> Is the Epson 1430 output equivalent to the 1400 when both use the 1400 workflow and the MIS Eboni 6 ink set + Arches un-coated watercolor paper?
> 
> What work flow / software are you using to convert your camera files to B&W for post processing?
> 
> Thanks for your help
>

remononaz1 <homershannon@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> ... 1400 and the 1430 ... There are several good ink strategies ...
>


> The 2K-2LK is also good. Eboni-6 is apparently the best way to go now,...
>

These are very different media for different markets.

2K-2LK <http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-Claria-Noritsu-2K2LK.pdf>
uses Claria/Noritsu dyes, requires some user mixing (MIS [InkSupply.com]
sells the clear base needed) and loading of carts, and is aimed at high
gloss paper and not high end archival fine art or museum quality work.
 This is eye candy.  For the second time in a row, in a show where I had
the only B&W work (one print), surrounded by paintings, the Claria/Noritsu
B&W print was the first to sell.  I have never before had a medium that can
take on color in side-by-side competition, but this one can do it.

Eboni-6 <http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eboni-6.pdf> is a 100% carbon
pigment inkset that I recommend for the very best high-end fine art and
museum quality work.  100% carbon pigment inksets are the most lightfast,
by far.  This is not to say the blended carbon-color (warm carbon
neutralized by cyan and magenta) are necessarily bad, but if you want to be
sure your work looks like new for the next generation, with no color
shifting due to the faster, differential fading of the color pigments, 100%
carbon is the only medium I recommend.  It is for matte paper only.  MIS
sells it pre-loaded, and for the very least expensive, smooth-printing
inkset, this can be mixed by users.  (I call the user-mixed version
"Carbon-6" to differentiate it from MIS's version; the same profiles work
for both.)

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I earlier wrote:
 
> These [Eboni-6 and the Claria/Noritsu dyes] are very different 
> media for different markets.

> [The 1400] 2K-2LK --
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-Claria-Noritsu-2K2LK.pdf
> uses Claria/Noritsu dyes, requires some user mixing 
> (MIS/InkSupply.com sells the clear base needed) and 
> loading of carts, and is aimed at high
> gloss paper and not high end archival fine art or 
> museum quality work.  This is eye candy.  

> For the second time in a row, in a [Gallery Los Olivos] 
> show where I had the only B&W work (one print), surrounded 
> by paintings, the Claria/Noritsu B&W print was the first to 
> sell.  I have never before had a medium that can
> take on color in side-by-side competition, but this one can do it.
...


In the last show where this happened, I put in a second image to see if that sold also.  It did, indicating it was not just the image that did the trick.

This time I also put in a second image to see if the first image was just so compelling that it was just the image and not the medium that was doing it.  Again, the second image also sold quickly.

Dyes plus the Red River metallic paper -- 
http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66lb-polar-pearl-metallic-inkjet-photo-paper.html -- 
seem to be a major part of what is driving these sales.  I'd like to think it is just my images, but I think the evidence suggests the medium is playing a major part in these sales.

I stress that I'm only talking about a way to take on color images and the advantage color usually has in side-by-side competition.  "Carbon on cotton" is what goes on my walls and what I consider collectible fine art, not dyes on RC paper.  (I do spray the prints with Lascaux Fixativ to try and get reasonable lightfastness.)  In any case, where you want to grab attention, the "snap" of the dyes on metallic paper does the job.  They really fly off the walls of the gallery.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Paul

Any idea how well this metallic paper works with Epson inks?

Joe



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul" <roark.paul@...> wrote:

>
> I earlier wrote:
>  
> > These [Eboni-6 and the Claria/Noritsu dyes] are very different 
> > media for different markets.
> 
> > [The 1400] 2K-2LK --
> http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-Claria-Noritsu-2K2LK.pdf
> > uses Claria/Noritsu dyes, requires some user mixing 
> > (MIS/InkSupply.com sells the clear base needed) and 
> > loading of carts, and is aimed at high
> > gloss paper and not high end archival fine art or 
> > museum quality work.  This is eye candy.  
> 
> > For the second time in a row, in a [Gallery Los Olivos] 
> > show where I had the only B&W work (one print), surrounded 
> > by paintings, the Claria/Noritsu B&W print was the first to 
> > sell.  I have never before had a medium that can
> > take on color in side-by-side competition, but this one can do it.
> ...
> 
> 
> In the last show where this happened, I put in a second image to see if that sold also.  It did, indicating it was not just the image that did the trick.
> 
> This time I also put in a second image to see if the first image was just so compelling that it was just the image and not the medium that was doing it.  Again, the second image also sold quickly.
> 
> Dyes plus the Red River metallic paper -- 
> http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66lb-polar-pearl-metallic-inkjet-photo-paper.html -- 
> seem to be a major part of what is driving these sales.  I'd like to think it is just my images, but I think the evidence suggests the medium is playing a major part in these sales.
> 
> I stress that I'm only talking about a way to take on color images and the advantage color usually has in side-by-side competition.  "Carbon on cotton" is what goes on my walls and what I consider collectible fine art, not dyes on RC paper.  (I do spray the prints with Lascaux Fixativ to try and get reasonable lightfastness.)  In any case, where you want to grab attention, the "snap" of the dyes on metallic paper does the job.  They really fly off the walls of the gallery.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>

The pigments I have tried veil the highlights and lessen the effect.
On Oct 13, 2012 12:36 PM, "jsservices2001" <jnschum@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> Paul
>
> Any idea how well this metallic paper works with Epson inks?
>
> Joe
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul" <roark.paul@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > I earlier wrote:
> >
> > > These [Eboni-6 and the Claria/Noritsu dyes] are very different
> > > media for different markets.
> >
> > > [The 1400] 2K-2LK --
> > http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-Claria-Noritsu-2K2LK.pdf
> > > uses Claria/Noritsu dyes, requires some user mixing
> > > (MIS/InkSupply.com sells the clear base needed) and
> > > loading of carts, and is aimed at high
> > > gloss paper and not high end archival fine art or
> > > museum quality work. This is eye candy.
> >
> > > For the second time in a row, in a [Gallery Los Olivos]
> > > show where I had the only B&W work (one print), surrounded
> > > by paintings, the Claria/Noritsu B&W print was the first to
> > > sell. I have never before had a medium that can
> > > take on color in side-by-side competition, but this one can do it.
> > ...
> >
> >
> > In the last show where this happened, I put in a second image to see if
> that sold also. It did, indicating it was not just the image that did the
> trick.
> >
> > This time I also put in a second image to see if the first image was
> just so compelling that it was just the image and not the medium that was
> doing it. Again, the second image also sold quickly.
> >
> > Dyes plus the Red River metallic paper --
> >
> http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66lb-polar-pearl-metallic-inkjet-photo-paper.html--
> > seem to be a major part of what is driving these sales. I'd like to
> think it is just my images, but I think the evidence suggests the medium is
> playing a major part in these sales.
> >
> > I stress that I'm only talking about a way to take on color images and
> the advantage color usually has in side-by-side competition. "Carbon on
> cotton" is what goes on my walls and what I consider collectible fine art,
> not dyes on RC paper. (I do spray the prints with Lascaux Fixativ to try
> and get reasonable lightfastness.) In any case, where you want to grab
> attention, the "snap" of the dyes on metallic paper does the job. They
> really fly off the walls of the gallery.
> >
> > Paul
> > www.PaulRoark.com
> >
>
>  
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 10/14/2012 01:12 AM, Paul Roark wrote:
> The pigments I have tried veil the highlights and lessen the effect.
> On Oct 13, 2012 12:36 PM, "jsservices2001" <jnschum@...
> <mailto:jnschum%40olympus.net>> wrote:
>

Paul,


If you can lay your hands on a roll of Canon Dream Labo Metallic Silky 
RC 198gsm you would have a nice dye compatible metallic paper that 
differs from the Moab Slickrock and Red River PP Metallic, the last two 
are one and the same in my opinion. The Canon Dream Labo is intended for 
the $ 600K Dream Labo minilab 7 dye printer and has a more silver paint 
like surface. I have already measured some other papers for that minilab 
model too. The minilab papers and new papers for high speed web (Felix 
Schoeller Jet Speed-Jet Line and more) could become a new dye ink 
compatible range of media, often dual sided. Have to measure the Felix 
Schoeller Jet Speed ones this week. I was impressed by the image quality 
on relative thin papers but I guess they were not printed on a high 
speed web inkjet press.
It could be that there are metallic papers for the Epson-Fuji-Noritsu 
minilab models too, I did not check that.


-- 
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
400+ inkjet paper white spectral plots, October 2012:
added Tetenal-Kodak, renewed Ilford-Innova-Hahnem\ufffdhle-Pictorico
soon Bonjet-Permajet-FelixSchoeller-Mitsubishi-Kodak(more)