Digital BW, The Print

I recently did some tests using the original MIS quad inkset and my 1160. On
one print I used the Brandin partitioned workflow, & on the other I used my
Profiler Plus Generations color profile with an adjustment curve to
compensate for the differences in ink density, but otherwise with the same
workflow as I use for color Generations printing.

With an 8X loupe I can make out dark dots in the highlights of the
non-partitioned color workflow quad print, otherwise the prints are nearly
indistinguishable (for my tired eyes).

Imagine that MIS created a hextone B/W inkset that matched the ink densities
of their 6-color pigment ink. We could profile the color inkset & use that
profile to print either color or B&W from our photo printers.

I imagine that the B/W inkset could be simplified into a tri-tone inkset,
with a midgray to match CMY & a light gray to match the light CM. I also
imagine that one of the primary CMY could be set aside for the blue cool
tone. Surely it would be much simpler to partition just the one channel for
the warm/cool effect.

-Just some thoughts as I stare at my idle 1200...
-BK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 11:16 AM
Subject: RE: [Digital BW] MIS/1200 Options?


> Bill,
>
> I've seen some excellent MIS VM 1200 test prints.
>
> The 1290 & general hextone ink distribution for MIS FS inks should also
work
> well on the 1200.  A simple grayscale adjustment curve has been made by a
> forum member for the 1290, and since it is for a non-partitioned,
> grayscale-file printing mode, it will probably be close to what is needed
> for all hextone printers.  I'll be refining this approach soon, as it
holds
> out the promise of really outstanding prints with far fewer problems than
> are introduced by radical partitioning curves.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com
>
>
> ____________________________
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: billy_iverson [mailto:wiverson@...]
>   Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 5:00 AM
>   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
>   Subject: [Digital BW] MIS/1200 Options?
>
>
>   A friend has an Epson 1200 available for B&W printing, and wants to
>   use MIS inks.  What options are there, if any, other than the freebie
>   curves downloadable from the MIS site?  Thanks.  Bill Iverson
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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Barry,

You wrote:

>...
>Imagine that MIS created a hextone B/W inkset that matched the ink
densities
>of their 6-color pigment ink. We could profile the color inkset & use that
>profile to print either color or B&W from our photo printers. ...

That might be close to where we are going.  The CMY MIS archival pigs may
not have the same visual densities, so there might be a compromise for the
sake of production efficiencies.  I'm currently thinking of having the cyan
and magenta densities equal and having the yellow be whatever is needed to
get the best highlights.  I think the yellow has lower visual density that
then others, which is why they can get away with only a single yellow ink.

Whether the new mix is close enough to use the same paper profiles might be
a relevant factor to take into consideration.  Different color balance
characteristics of the different papers would, of course, be irrelevant.
However, to the extent the paper profiles deal with keeping the ramp smooth
and even, they would certainly be very useful.

Any thoughts or ideas along these lines would be most useful to me as I get
into this.  I'm not an expert on the color inksets at all.  So, I'm really
not that much aware of what profiles exist.

I suppose the ability to work well with the profiling software would also be
important.  Any settings that are needed for that software to do its job
would be most useful to know.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com
____________________________________

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 11:16 AM
Subject: RE: [Digital BW] MIS/1200 Options?


> Bill,
>
> I've seen some excellent MIS VM 1200 test prints.
>
> The 1290 & general hextone ink distribution for MIS FS inks should also
work
> well on the 1200.  A simple grayscale adjustment curve has been made by a
> forum member for the 1290, and since it is for a non-partitioned,
> grayscale-file printing mode, it will probably be close to what is needed
> for all hextone printers.  I'll be refining this approach soon, as it
holds

> out the promise of really outstanding prints with far fewer problems than
> are introduced by radical partitioning curves.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com
>
>
> ____________________________
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: billy_iverson [mailto:wiverson@...]
>   Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 5:00 AM
>   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
>   Subject: [Digital BW] MIS/1200 Options?
>
>
>   A friend has an Epson 1200 available for B&W printing, and wants to
>   use MIS inks.  What options are there, if any, other than the freebie
>   curves downloadable from the MIS site?  Thanks.  Bill Iverson

Paul,

Unfortunately I am no expert on color, just an end-user. I make my own color
profiles using my Epson 1640U scanner and Profiler Plus. I was always amazed
at the detail in the shadows of my color prints, so I tried using one of my
color profiles with the quad inks - it worked surprisingly well, with just a
slight adjustment curve. The main drawback was the mixing of the inks in the
highlights.

I believe it was Lincoln Inks who first proposed a b/w inkset matching the
densities of Epson OEM inks, so the user could simply print with the Epson
driver. Well, I have always found the Epson drivers somewhat lacking when it
came to resolving shadow detail. It just seems logical to take that idea a
step further, & use profiling software to get a better ramp, as you put it.
It also seems logical that the hextone printers, with their light inks,
would be a great fit for this kind of system, since the light & mid tones
are already partitioned in the Epson driver.

The trick would be creating b/w inks that matched the density of a color
inkset that would be easy to profile...

I don't know if these ramblings are any help. Maybe greater minds will jump
in.
-BK


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...>
To: "DigitalB&WPrint" <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 5:10 PM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] MIS/1200 Options? - suggestion for non-partitioned
workflow


> Barry,
>
> You wrote:
>
> >...
> >Imagine that MIS created a hextone B/W inkset that matched the ink
> densities
> >of their 6-color pigment ink. We could profile the color inkset & use
that
> >profile to print either color or B&W from our photo printers. ...
>
> That might be close to where we are going.  The CMY MIS archival pigs may
> not have the same visual densities, so there might be a compromise for the
> sake of production efficiencies.  I'm currently thinking of having the
cyan
> and magenta densities equal and having the yellow be whatever is needed to
> get the best highlights.  I think the yellow has lower visual density that
> then others, which is why they can get away with only a single yellow ink.
>
> Whether the new mix is close enough to use the same paper profiles might
be
> a relevant factor to take into consideration.  Different color balance
> characteristics of the different papers would, of course, be irrelevant.
> However, to the extent the paper profiles deal with keeping the ramp
smooth
> and even, they would certainly be very useful.
>
> Any thoughts or ideas along these lines would be most useful to me as I
get
> into this.  I'm not an expert on the color inksets at all.  So, I'm really
> not that much aware of what profiles exist.
>
> I suppose the ability to work well with the profiling software would also
be

> important.  Any settings that are needed for that software to do its job
> would be most useful to know.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com
> ____________________________________