Digital BW, The Print

I just wondered how any other beta testers are doing with this ink and
semigloss papers.

In my case, the ink installation and purging were completed satisfactorily
on my Epson 1160 running Win98, the Photo Black ink (as opposed to matte
black), PS 7.01 and the standard VM curves which are still supposed to work
with these inks.  Nozzle checks and alignment checks looked up to specs
after ink installation.  I then started testing using the ILFORD SMOOTH
PEARL paper.

My first real print was of an actual photo scene to compare with a previous
version printed with the old VM + EAM combination.  The new ink and paper
combination really showed potential with deeper blacks and a crispness that
the original VM + EAM matte system was lacking.  The print wasn't perfect,
but it showed potential considering I hadn't tweaked it for the new inks.

I then decided it was time to really see what was going on and started
printing out the 21 step wedges for each of the four VM tone curves.  A few
issues became apparent. (For reference, my 1160 printer was printing very
nice 21 step wedge patterns with the VM + EAM combo right before the switch
to the new inks.)

*The 100,99,98,97,96% patches didn't have any visible separation (and 95% on
warmtone curves)

*The continuous tone area toward the top of the wedge image running just
above the row of 5% increment patches (from 100% to 0%) shows some choppy
areas of transition.  Minute thin dark bars/segments are visible where
transitions are not smooth and I am guessing things block up.  These are
hard to see but are there.  They occur in the 50% to 100% range are very
visible in the section located above the 90% to 100% segment patches.  These
are not random since I have printed multiple examples and had these areas in
question print the same way each time.  Both the printer nozzle check and
alignment were checked before and after printing.

*What I think of as the dither pattern or what Ilford describes in their FAQ
as "This effect, often referred to as "coalescence", is not pleasant in
certain portions of the step wedge. I think this is related to the way in
which the ink is absorbed into the media (I think that is the right
interpretation).  The portions from 35% to 85% look very coarse.  I thought
this might have something to do with the surface of the paper not getting
enough ink. It is bad at 40%, worst at 50%, then slowly gets better as you
approach 85%.  My guess is that maybe one of the inks is starting to kick in
35, then increases through 50 and starts to taper off toward 85.

Ilford recommended using the "photo quality glossy film setting" but that
proved one of the most coarse settings.  The heavyweight matte setting used
on the old VM+EAM and most other settings were all also still coarse to one
degree or another.  The best setting I found was "plain paper" and then
setting the print output to 1440dpi photo.  At the latter setting though, it
really emphasized the uneven transitions in the 21 step test wedge.

Today, I picked up some EPSON PREMIUM LUSTER paper that also has an "E"
semigloss surface like the Ilford Smooth Pearl and is the paper with which
Paul said had good luck.  I still had the same problems that I had with the
Ilford paper - no noticeable separation in the darker % patches, the minute
dark areas/bars in continuous tone strip running above the section of
patches and coarseness/coalescence.

Interestingly, the Epson Premium Luster paper prints a bit warmer than the
Ilford Smooth Pearl when using comparable settings.  The blocked up dark
tones might also extend a bit further out down the % scale.

I like the surface of the Epson paper better.  It has less glare/gloss and
most closely matches fiber based papers.

So the above are some initial impressions from a single user (keep this in
mind).  My initial print was in encouraging but it didn't really "test" the
abilities of the ink.  The subsequent test wedges make me think that a more
demanding/critical image would have deeper blacks but in large areas of
continuous midtones might not be as pleasing as the original VM inkset.

I would love to hear what results others are getting with their paper and
ink combinations.

Doug