Digital BW, The Print

I just got my brand-new Epson 1280 and MIS-VM inkset yesterday, and I'm 
quite disappointed with the results.

I, at risk, decided to just load the MIS carts without loading the epson 
carts first.  Did a head alignment and nozzle check.  Printed a step wedge 
using the instructions given on the MIS website (using the Roark NC curve 
for the 1280) on EAM.  The step-wedge looked good both compared to onscreen 
and with a Q-13 test target.

So far, so good.

I printed a test image (on EAM) which I had previously printed with my 
Epson 890 using the Lyson Quad-black inkset (on HWM).  No comparison at all 
-- the Lyson print is clearly better.  The problems with the MIS one that I 
see are:
- I can see dots in the darker tones a couple of steps up from black 
(around 13 on the Q-13) even without a loupe.  Going back to the 
step-wedge, you can see the dots there too.
- the Lyson print is sharper
- the lyson print seems to be more continuous-tone.  When compared to the 
Lyson, the MIS print seems to be posterized.  That is, if you examine one 
particular area, there seems to be a larger number of tonal steps going 
from dark to light on the Lyson print than the MIS print.
- on the plus side, the MIS print seems to be more neutral than the Lyson one

I could just buy the Lyson inkset for the 1280, but I'd like to have an 
archival print.  Also, my impression from reading here was that the MIS 
results would be superior to the Lyson results.

Anyone have any suggestions for what I'm doing wrong?


Thanks,
Keith Douglas





------------------------------------------------
Keith Douglas, L432F, x57590

I don't really know what you could be doing wrong, but
I just recently purchased the MIS_VMS inkset. I tried
it with Roark's curves and got a lot of posterization.
I downloaded Keith Kreb's curves and have had
excellent results with them. I like his #6 for sepia
tho I sometimes tweak it a little, depending on the
image. And I use the #3 and #4 for warmtone neutral
prints. It's worth downloading them and playing
around. You can get them from the list's download
area. Good Luck
Evelyn
--- Keith Douglas <kdouglas@...> wrote:
> I just got my brand-new Epson 1280 and MIS-VM inkset
> yesterday, and I'm 
> quite disappointed with the results.
> 
> I, at risk, decided to just load the MIS carts
> without loading the epson 
> carts first.  Did a head alignment and nozzle check.
>  Printed a step wedge 
> using the instructions given on the MIS website
> (using the Roark NC curve 
> for the 1280) on EAM.  The step-wedge looked good
> both compared to onscreen 
> and with a Q-13 test target.
> 
> So far, so good.
> 
> I printed a test image (on EAM) which I had
> previously printed with my 
> Epson 890 using the Lyson Quad-black inkset (on
> HWM).  No comparison at all 
> -- the Lyson print is clearly better.  The problems
> with the MIS one that I 
> see are:
> - I can see dots in the darker tones a couple of
> steps up from black 
> (around 13 on the Q-13) even without a loupe.  Going
> back to the 
> step-wedge, you can see the dots there too.
> - the Lyson print is sharper
> - the lyson print seems to be more continuous-tone. 
> When compared to the 
> Lyson, the MIS print seems to be posterized.  That
> is, if you examine one 
> particular area, there seems to be a larger number
> of tonal steps going 
> from dark to light on the Lyson print than the MIS
> print.
> - on the plus side, the MIS print seems to be more
> neutral than the Lyson one
> 
> I could just buy the Lyson inkset for the 1280, but
> I'd like to have an 
> archival print.  Also, my impression from reading
> here was that the MIS 
> results would be superior to the Lyson results.
> 
> Anyone have any suggestions for what I'm doing
> wrong?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Keith Douglas
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------
> Keith Douglas, L432F, x57590
> 
> 


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/

Keith: at the risk of insulting your intelligence, are you sure you're
converting the file to RGB before you apply the curve? And, that the
printer is set to color? Your prints sound like bad Black Only prints.
I've used MIS VM inks and Paul's workflow with my 1280 and my prints
were first rate from the start. 

If so, Jerry Olson's suggestion about posting ALL your settings would
be the next step. 

Bob Michaels

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Keith Douglas
<kdouglas@q...> wrote:
> I just got my brand-new Epson 1280 and MIS-VM inkset yesterday, and I'm 
> quite disappointed with the results.
> 
> I, at risk, decided to just load the MIS carts without loading the
epson 
> carts first.  Did a head alignment and nozzle check.  Printed a step
wedge 
> using the instructions given on the MIS website (using the Roark NC
curve 
> for the 1280) on EAM.  The step-wedge looked good both compared to
onscreen 
> and with a Q-13 test target.
> 
> So far, so good.
> 
> I printed a test image (on EAM) which I had previously printed with my 
> Epson 890 using the Lyson Quad-black inkset (on HWM).  No comparison
at all 
> -- the Lyson print is clearly better.  The problems with the MIS one
that I 
> see are:
> - I can see dots in the darker tones a couple of steps up from black 
> (around 13 on the Q-13) even without a loupe.  Going back to the 
> step-wedge, you can see the dots there too.
> - the Lyson print is sharper
> - the lyson print seems to be more continuous-tone.  When compared
to the 
> Lyson, the MIS print seems to be posterized.  That is, if you
examine one 
> particular area, there seems to be a larger number of tonal steps going 
> from dark to light on the Lyson print than the MIS print.
> - on the plus side, the MIS print seems to be more neutral than the
Lyson one

> 
> I could just buy the Lyson inkset for the 1280, but I'd like to have an 
> archival print.  Also, my impression from reading here was that the MIS 
> results would be superior to the Lyson results.
> 
> Anyone have any suggestions for what I'm doing wrong?
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Keith Douglas
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------
> Keith Douglas, L432F, x57590