Digital BW, The Print

Can anyone suggest a good starting point for printing B&W with the 
standard Epson color inks on a 1280 printer? Using Epson matte 
heavyweight paper.

I've tried using the Advanced settings with no adjustment, and prints 
have a definite magenta cast.

I also tried Norman Koren's settings at:  
http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html#Printer
(scroll down until you see a purplish chart headed "Paper, Settings 
(please see disclaimer above)").  I tried that settings for B&W 
prints on Matte Heavyweight.  His settings improve things, but 
now dark tones are a bit greenish, and mid-tones are still magenta.

This magenta problem exists with color prints, too.  On a picture of 
a waterfall, cascading water in sunlight is white, but cascading 
water in the shade is a bit magenta or purple. If anyone has some 
ideas on that, all help gratefully accepted.

Eventually I'll probably just get the MIS VM inks, but right now I 
want to use up the inks I already have, and I have some color I want 
to do.  If I could just use color inks for everything, that would be 
great, but I really don't want to buy $400 calibration software and 
equipment.

Thanks
--Peter

Yes, I have been through this with my 1280 Epson and have learned what you have learned.  If you correct the magenta with more green, the green cast increases and the same with the reverse.  The best I have been able to do using color inks is the following: Cyan +4, Magenta -11,  Yellow +6 with contrast at +4 and saturation at +6 using gamma of 2.2 for MHW paper.  Epson exchanged a 1280 that required even more negative magenta correction than the above.  Color prints with these settings are pretty good.  But, you are right in certain conditions you describe the magenta bug comes back to life.  My solution is to go to hex black printing with the 1280 and try the 2200 for color, particularly since the inks have more longevity.  Glad you posted your note, good to know that others have noted the same.  One question.  What operating system are you using?  I wonder if the driver for XP has this problem.
  kd7mw <pklein@...> wrote: Can anyone suggest a good starting point for printing B&W with the 
standard Epson color inks on a 1280 printer? Using Epson matte 
heavyweight paper.

I've tried using the Advanced settings with no adjustment, and prints 
have a definite magenta cast.

I also tried Norman Koren's settings at:  
http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html#Printer
(scroll down until you see a purplish chart headed "Paper, Settings 
(please see disclaimer above)").  I tried that settings for B&W 
prints on Matte Heavyweight.  His settings improve things, but 
now dark tones are a bit greenish, and mid-tones are still magenta.

This magenta problem exists with color prints, too.  On a picture of 
a waterfall, cascading water in sunlight is white, but cascading 
water in the shade is a bit magenta or purple. If anyone has some 
ideas on that, all help gratefully accepted.

Eventually I'll probably just get the MIS VM inks, but right now I 
want to use up the inks I already have, and I have some color I want 
to do.  If I could just use color inks for everything, that would be 
great, but I really don't want to buy $400 calibration software and 
equipment.

Thanks
--Peter 


Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

Please follow these basic guidelines:
- Include your full name with your message.
- Include the address of your website, if you have one.
- As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep them short.
- As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or "flames."
- Complete your Yahoo profile.
- Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various resources on the homepage. 




Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 



---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
Sign-up for Video Highlights of 2002 FIFA World Cup

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

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "kd7mw" <pklein@2...> wrote:
........

> Eventually I'll probably just get the MIS VM inks, but right now I 
> want to use up the inks I already have, and I have some color I want 
> to do.  If I could just use color inks for everything, that would be 
> great, but I really don't want to buy $400 calibration software and 
> equipment


Peter,

I only wish you were $400 away from a perfectly neutral grayscale using the 
Epson driver! Unfortunately, what you are trying to do simply cannot be done 
with the OEM driver - even if you bought $5000 worth of color management 
gear. People have come "close" and whether that's good enough depends on 
your particular needs. Some resort to "sepia" or other colorizations to mask 
the grayscale shift.  I'd say you may try the Black only option - at least it won't 
drift and shift across the scale.  Ultimately, you are not going to be as happy 
as a mono hex set.


Antonis

Antonis:  Right.  Too bad the "black only" is just dotty enough that 
you can see it, or that's precisely what I'd use. 

I guess it will be MIS VM something or other pretty soon.  Would 
somebody please post a summary of the most successful VM ink and 
curve combinations for the 1280?

I've been using up the color inks printing test prints.  Last night I 
found that Norman Koren's color settings worked pretty well for not 
only color, but were better for B&W than his B&W settings (on a 1280, 
his were done on a 1270).  There's still the green-magenta shift, but 
not as much.  OK for showing friends, not quite good enough to hang 
on the wall.

--Peter

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "antonisphoto" 
<antonisphoto@y...> wrote:
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "kd7mw" <pklein@2...> 
wrote:
> ........
> 
> > Eventually I'll probably just get the MIS VM inks, but right now 
I 
> > want to use up the inks I already have, and I have some color I 
want 
> > to do.  If I could just use color inks for everything, that would 
be 
> > great, but I really don't want to buy $400 calibration software 
and 
> > equipment
> 
> 
> Peter,
> 
> I only wish you were $400 away from a perfectly neutral grayscale 
using the 
> Epson driver! Unfortunately, what you are trying to do simply 
cannot be done 
> with the OEM driver - even if you bought $5000 worth of color 
management 
> gear. People have come "close" and whether that's good enough 
depends on 
> your particular needs. Some resort to "sepia" or other 
colorizations to mask 
> the grayscale shift.  I'd say you may try the Black only option - 
at least it won't 
> drift and shift across the scale.  Ultimately, you are not going to 
be as happy 

> as a mono hex set.
> 
> 
> Antonis

Thanks, Paul, I'll try your settings.  I found that Norm Koren's 
color setting for MHW paper was better for B&W than his B&W setting 
(on a 1280, he developed his settings on a 1270), and good for color, 
too.  It approaches your settings, but you have much less magenta.

I run Win98 Second Edition at home.

--Peter

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Paul Hathaway 
<bwinkjet@y...> wrote:
> 
>  Yes, I have been through this with my 1280 Epson and have learned 
what you have learned.  If you correct the magenta with more green, 
the green cast increases and the same with the reverse.  The best I 
have been able to do using color inks is the following: Cyan +4, 
Magenta -11,  Yellow +6 with contrast at +4 and saturation at +6 
using gamma of 2.2 for MHW paper.  Epson exchanged a 1280 that 
required even more negative magenta correction than the above.  Color 
prints with these settings are pretty good.  But, you are right in 
certain conditions you describe the magenta bug comes back to life.  
My solution is to go to hex black printing with the 1280 and try the 
2200 for color, particularly since the inks have more longevity.  
Glad you posted your note, good to know that others have noted the 
same.  One question.  What operating system are you using?  I wonder 
if the driver for XP has this problem.