Digital BW, The Print

After the discussion a few days ago following my two postings on
'posterization again,' I tried some of the techniques suggested,
including experimenting with Tyler Boley's curves (which Paul Roark
helpfully forwarded off-list) and some preliminary experiments with
linearization using a grayscale test pattern (which, unfortunately, were
inconclusive -- unlike some other posters, I had trouble getting the
posterization effects I was seeing in images to show up in the test
pattern).  There are more experiments I could do, but (a) I'm getting
tired of printing test patterns and would like to go back to making some
art, (b) I've run through all the MIS inks I had bought initially, and
(c) I have a set of Piezo inks, flushing cartridges, and software on my
desk now and ready to try.  So I sat down this morning to have a go with
those.

Sadly, I didn't get very far before getting stuck in this direction too:
the instructions that come with the piezo software include all sorts of
dire warnings about the need to properly flush the old inks from the
system, but the instructions about precisely *how* to do this are less
than clear.  (The instructions only talk about how to do it for an Epson
3000, not 1280, and the included purging pattern has only four bars, not
six.  Furthermore, the bars in the purging pattern are all gray, though
the instructions imply that it is to be printed through the Epson
driver.  Can this be right?) 

If someone has successfully installed a piezo cartridge set on a 1280 and
can quickly summarize the steps (or point me to someplace where they've
been written down -- I surfed for an hour but found nothing), I'd be
grateful. 

Many thanks,

        Benjamin
        http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/photos

Benjamin,

If you are replacing MIS inks with the original Piezo inks, you don't 
really need to flush your system out.  Just put in the Piezo 
cartridges, and clean the nozzles until you get good patterns.  Then 
you are ready to print.

If you are about to put in the new PiezoTone inks, you will have to 
flush the system out.  Just put the flushing carts in the printer, 
and print a number of purge patterns (which can be found at the MIS 
website for download, or even at the InkjetMall site).  And, yes, the 
puge bars should be color and you should be using the Epson driver 
for that.

After that, the next step depends on whether you are using CIS based 
system or cartridge based system.  For the former, you really should 
get a new set of CIS cartridges.  If you are using cartridges, once 
your system is flushed, you are set to go.  Just make sure you are 
getting clean nozzle checks.

Good luck.

Shilesh

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Benjamin C. 
Pierce" <bcpierce@c...> wrote:
> After the discussion a few days ago following my two postings on
> 'posterization again,' I tried some of the techniques suggested,
> including experimenting with Tyler Boley's curves (which Paul Roark
> helpfully forwarded off-list) and some preliminary experiments with
> linearization using a grayscale test pattern (which, unfortunately, 
were
> inconclusive -- unlike some other posters, I had trouble getting the
> posterization effects I was seeing in images to show up in the test
> pattern).  There are more experiments I could do, but (a) I'm 
getting
> tired of printing test patterns and would like to go back to making 
some
> art, (b) I've run through all the MIS inks I had bought initially, 
and
> (c) I have a set of Piezo inks, flushing cartridges, and software 
on my
> desk now and ready to try.  So I sat down this morning to have a go 
with
> those.
> 
> Sadly, I didn't get very far before getting stuck in this direction 
too:
> the instructions that come with the piezo software include all 
sorts of
> dire warnings about the need to properly flush the old inks from the
> system, but the instructions about precisely *how* to do this are 
less
> than clear.  (The instructions only talk about how to do it for an 
Epson
> 3000, not 1280, and the included purging pattern has only four 
bars, not
> six.  Furthermore, the bars in the purging pattern are all gray, 
though
> the instructions imply that it is to be printed through the Epson
> driver.  Can this be right?) 
> 
> If someone has successfully installed a piezo cartridge set on a 
1280 and
> can quickly summarize the steps (or point me to someplace where 
they've

> been written down -- I surfed for an hour but found nothing), I'd be
> grateful. 
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
>         Benjamin
>         http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/photos

Wow: that was fast.  Thanks, Shilesh.

I've got the new (warmtone) piezo inks, in cartridges.  So I take it that
I should do the flushing step.  One more specific question, if I may...

The piezo instructions for the Epson 3000 include a quite complex
sequence of steps: remove old inks, turn off printer, wait, turn on
printer, install flushing carts, wait, repeat above steps again, print
purge pattern, remove flush carts, turn printer off, wait, turn on,
install new inks, and print purge pattern again (I'm not making this up).

Any idea how many of these steps are important for the 1280, and why?

    - Benjamin

Benjamin,

I use two 1280 printers myself.  I have NOT used the new PT inks.
I always use MIS FS inks in many different variations, by mixing 
different proportions myself.  When I change cartridges, all I do, is 
swap them out, check nozzle, clean, check nozzle, and than strt 
printing(!)

So, the ciumbersome description you read is probably not necessary.  
But because IJM has clearly stated that the new PT inks are different 
than the old Piezo inks, then you should definitely use the flushing 
cartridges.  After that, let it rip.

Your original post said something about seeing posterization.  If you 
have some other problems in your system (scan, image correction, 
proper image space, etc.) chaning the inks out will not help much.  I 
will go back and follow your thread up so see what sort of problem 
you were having with the MIS inks.  If I can help, I will place 
another post for you.

Regards.

Shilesh



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Benjamin C. 
Pierce" <bcpierce@c...> wrote:
> Wow: that was fast.  Thanks, Shilesh.
> 
> I've got the new (warmtone) piezo inks, in cartridges.  So I take 
it that
> I should do the flushing step.  One more specific question, if I 
may...
> 
> The piezo instructions for the Epson 3000 include a quite complex
> sequence of steps: remove old inks, turn off printer, wait, turn on
> printer, install flushing carts, wait, repeat above steps again, 
print
> purge pattern, remove flush carts, turn printer off, wait, turn on,
> install new inks, and print purge pattern again (I'm not making 
this up).
> 
> Any idea how many of these steps are important for the 1280, and 
why?
> 
>     - Benjamin

Benjamin,

Having dug further back into your threads, it seems you were 
originally having problems with VM Sepia inks.  Well, I have 
previously used VM inks, but not for very long.  I can tell you that 
my experience was similar to yours.  I then developed an alternative 
workflow for the VM inks (which works very well), which I am afraid 
requires one to create adjustment curves.  My own feeling is that VM 
workflows are fairly senstive to printer-printer variations, image 
space, proper printer setting, etc.  If you follow the instructions 
of the Piezo software (proper grayscale conversion), and have a well 
calibrated monitor, I expect you will have better luck.  If you 
don't, there may be other problems in you chain.  Good luck, and keep 
us posted.  I will gladly try to help.

Shilesh




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Benjamin C. 
Pierce" <bcpierce@c...> wrote:
> Wow: that was fast.  Thanks, Shilesh.
> 
> I've got the new (warmtone) piezo inks, in cartridges.  So I take 
it that
> I should do the flushing step.  One more specific question, if I 
may...
> 
> The piezo instructions for the Epson 3000 include a quite complex
> sequence of steps: remove old inks, turn off printer, wait, turn on
> printer, install flushing carts, wait, repeat above steps again, 
print
> purge pattern, remove flush carts, turn printer off, wait, turn on,
> install new inks, and print purge pattern again (I'm not making 
this up).
> 
> Any idea how many of these steps are important for the 1280, and 
why?
> 
>     - Benjamin

Following up my query yesterday, in case anybody else encounters the same
question...

I asked: 

  ... the instructions that come with the piezo software include all
  sorts of dire warnings about the need to properly flush the old inks
  from the system, but the instructions about precisely *how* to do this
  are less than clear.  (The instructions only talk about how to do it
  for an Epson 3000, not 1280, and the included purging pattern has only
  four bars, not six.  Furthermore, the bars in the purging pattern are
  all gray, though the instructions imply that it is to be printed
  through the Epson driver.  Can this be right?)

  If someone has successfully installed a piezo cartridge set on a 1280 and
  can quickly summarize the steps (or point me to someplace where they've
  been written down -- I surfed for an hour but found nothing), I'd be
  grateful. 

After some discussions on the list some more solo surfing, I managed to
find a semi-authoritative answer.  Remembering that the Lyson inks are
also said to cause clogging problems if mixed with Epson inks, I had a
look on their web site.  Sure enough, they've got an informative page of
instructions about their suggested purging procedures for different
printers.  And, most helpfully of all, they've got a procedure for the
Epson 3000, which looks quite similar to the very complicated one I
sketched above, side by side with a much simpler procedure for the 1280:
remove old inks, insert flushing cartridge, print purging pattern, remove
flushing cartridge, insert new inks, print purging pattern.  

After following this procedure, I appear to be up and running with the
piezotone inks.  I'm seeing some minor clogging on some images, but not
worse than what I experienced with the MIS inks (one clog per several
pages), and the clogs are always taken care of by a nozzle cleaning
cycle.  I hope this will straighten itself out as I put more ink through
the head.

Several people have told me that they don't believe flushing / purging is
necessary at all, but there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus on this,
and I was reluctant to take even a small chance of gumming up my printer
if there was a simple alternative.

As for my side-question about the gray purging pattern, no one has
suggested that it could be right -- it must be intended to be printed
through the Cone driver, no matter what the instructions may imply.

Regards,

    Benjamin