Digital BW, The Print

Hi again

(I am printing with a 1280 on a Mac with MIS VM ink, using mac curves
and the settings listed on the workflow page, nomorecarts CIS)
 
So I finally installed my CIS, and now I'm having huge printing
problems - I was getting good tone and good step wedges when I was
using carts, but now that I have changed over, all of a sudden my
shadows have a horrible solarized look. Stepwedges show a dark band
around 70% when using the warm curves, and a generally stepless range
between around 80-60% using the neutral curve. Basically, something is
wrong with my darker midtones - really really wrong. 

I have quadruple checked that my ink bottles are in the correct
positions. I have run purge patterns which also show that the colors
are coming from the correct locations (the purge patterns from the new
inks seem to be denser across the board than the ones from the carts
though, for what it's worth)

So my question - do I have bad ink? Do I need new curves? Am I just
totally totally screwed? 

I invested in this system initially to print a large portfolio of
prints that I need to do over the next month or so, so I definitely
need to fix this asap, by whatever means needed.

Thanks!

-CB

It looks like you received inks that were labeled wrong. I suggest 
you do swap tests of each individual ink bottle. The colors and 
density should look like that posted on the MIS site. If not, get in 
touch with them immediately. If they have made a mistake, hopefully 
they will be willing to make appropriate corrections for you, 
including giving you free cartridges to cover you for the portfolio 
you need to complete.

I have made it a practice of always doing swab checks on any ink 
bottle I buy - from any source.

Good luck. Hope things resolve for you fast.

Shilesh Jani

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "charles_bandes" 
<byronbulb@y...> wrote:
> Hi again
> 
> (I am printing with a 1280 on a Mac with MIS VM ink, using mac 
curves
> and the settings listed on the workflow page, nomorecarts CIS)
>  
> So I finally installed my CIS, and now I'm having huge printing
> problems - I was getting good tone and good step wedges when I was
> using carts, but now that I have changed over, all of a sudden my
> shadows have a horrible solarized look. Stepwedges show a dark band
> around 70% when using the warm curves, and a generally stepless 
range
> between around 80-60% using the neutral curve. Basically, something 
is
> wrong with my darker midtones - really really wrong. 
> 
> I have quadruple checked that my ink bottles are in the correct
> positions. I have run purge patterns which also show that the colors
> are coming from the correct locations (the purge patterns from the 
new

> inks seem to be denser across the board than the ones from the carts
> though, for what it's worth)
> 
> So my question - do I have bad ink? Do I need new curves? Am I just
> totally totally screwed? 
> 
> I invested in this system initially to print a large portfolio of
> prints that I need to do over the next month or so, so I definitely
> need to fix this asap, by whatever means needed.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -CB

Hmmm, just about the same thing is happening with me. I bought a new 
1280, MIS cfs, and MIS VM inkset about 2 weeks ago, and so far I am 
having results that sound identical to yours. I have tried virtually 
every curve available, and have tried editing the curves, though this 
is proving quite difficult for my knowledge/experience level.
It never occured to me that the inks might be wrong.  I am virtually 
positive I have the inks in the right position though:
K=Black, C=Darkest Gray, M=Darkest Toner, Y=Lightest Gray, PC=Med 
Gray, PM=Lighter Toner.
Are my ink positions correct?
If so, how would I check to find out if the densities of my inks are 
properly mixed?
So far this has been very frustrating, but I sure can see the 
potential in the prints.  This is my first foray into BW carbon 
printing.

Any ideas/help/info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kevin Logan
kevin@...


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "charles_bandes" 
<byronbulb@y...> wrote:
> Hi again
> 
> (I am printing with a 1280 on a Mac with MIS VM ink, using mac 
curves
> and the settings listed on the workflow page, nomorecarts CIS)
>  
> So I finally installed my CIS, and now I'm having huge printing
> problems - I was getting good tone and good step wedges when I was
> using carts, but now that I have changed over, all of a sudden my
> shadows have a horrible solarized look. Stepwedges show a dark band
> around 70% when using the warm curves, and a generally stepless 
range
> between around 80-60% using the neutral curve. Basically, something 
is
> wrong with my darker midtones - really really wrong. 
> 
> I have quadruple checked that my ink bottles are in the correct
> positions. I have run purge patterns which also show that the colors
> are coming from the correct locations (the purge patterns from the 
new

> inks seem to be denser across the board than the ones from the carts
> though, for what it's worth)
> 
> So my question - do I have bad ink? Do I need new curves? Am I just
> totally totally screwed? 
> 
> I invested in this system initially to print a large portfolio of
> prints that I need to do over the next month or so, so I definitely
> need to fix this asap, by whatever means needed.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -CB