Digital BW, The Print

I am very close to purchasing an Epson 1280, as it is in my price 
range w/ the Epson rebate. The 2200 is just out of range. Among 
other things, I wish to make fine art B&W  13x19 prints which I 
had previously done on a Kodak XL7700. I would value any 
insight or recommendations as to best ink, archival & otherwise, 
semi-gloss/luster media combinations et al. Is this the best 
printer in this price range for this type of work? I do not want a 
CIS system just now. Can I swap out ink tanks to conserve the 
"better" ink, or is that not recommended? Thanks,  -Barry

I am very close to purchasing an Epson 1280, as it is in my price range w/
the Epson rebate. The 2200 is just out of range. Among other things, I wish
to make fine art B&W  13x19 prints which I had previously done on a Kodak
XL7700. I would value any insight or recommendations as to best ink,
archival & otherwise, semi-gloss/luster media combinations et al. Is this
the best printer in this price range for this type of work? I do not want a
CIS system just now. Can I swap out ink tanks to conserve the "better" ink,
or is that not recommended? Thanks,  -Barry

Barry,

the 1280 will serve you fine - though not the speediest of desktops. The two 
major sources for ink are inkjetmall and MIS. You will learn a lot by looking at 
their sites, as well as search the archives here on our group home page. 
Don't overlook our Files and Links sections.

Unlike dye sub prints, most "fine art" bw prints have been done on matte 
papers. If you need glossy, you have to compromise on archival qualities 
and deal with limited choices in ink and software.  And, unlike ribbons, 
swapping carts opens a can of worms that may or may not be worth dealing 
with. Most people dedicate a printer to bw - whether they use carts or CIS.

To get more specific advice, you may also want to mention what platform you 
intend to use for bw printing, as software solutions vary. 

Antonis



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Barry Koblenz 
<zod111@y...> wrote:

> I am very close to purchasing an Epson 1280, as it is in my price range w/
> the Epson rebate. The 2200 is just out of range. Among other things, I wish
> to make fine art B&W  13x19 prints which I had previously done on a Kodak
> XL7700. I would value any insight or recommendations as to best ink,
> archival & otherwise, semi-gloss/luster media combinations et al. Is this
> the best printer in this price range for this type of work? I do not want a
> CIS system just now. Can I swap out ink tanks to conserve the "better" ink,
> or is that not recommended? Thanks,  -Barry

Thank you. I plan to be using MacOS9 & X.  -BArry

> From: "Antonis Ricos" <antonisphoto@...>
> Reply-To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 04:40:40 -0000
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: How to Make the Best B&W Prints on a 1280
> 
> 
> Barry,
> 
> the 1280 will serve you fine - though not the speediest of desktops. The two
> major sources for ink are inkjetmall and MIS. You will learn a lot by looking
> at 
> their sites, as well as search the archives here on our group home page.
> Don't overlook our Files and Links sections.
> 
> Unlike dye sub prints, most "fine art" bw prints have been done on matte
> papers. If you need glossy, you have to compromise on archival qualities
> and deal with limited choices in ink and software.  And, unlike ribbons,
> swapping carts opens a can of worms that may or may not be worth dealing
> with. Most people dedicate a printer to bw - whether they use carts or CIS.
> 
> To get more specific advice, you may also want to mention what platform you
> intend to use for bw printing, as software solutions vary.
> 
> Antonis
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Barry Koblenz
> <zod111@y...> wrote:
>> > I am very close to purchasing an Epson 1280, as it is in my price range w/
>> > the Epson rebate. The 2200 is just out of range. Among other things, I wish
>> > to make fine art B&W  13x19 prints which I had previously done on a Kodak
>> > XL7700. I would value any insight or recommendations as to best ink,
>> > archival & otherwise, semi-gloss/luster media combinations et al. Is this
>> > the best printer in this price range for this type of work? I do not want a
>> > CIS system just now. Can I swap out ink tanks to conserve the "better" ink,
>> > or is that not recommended? Thanks,  -Barry
> 
> 
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Barry - 

For OSX you can use a new program called QuadtoneRIP which works alongside the 
gimp-print drivers and makes the process of making BW prints almost seamless. The 
best part is that it's free. 

You may want to check out MIS' (inksupply.com) new line of "UltraTone" inks which 
ostensibly work pretty well on gloss/lustre papers while still working fine on matte as 
well. 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Barry Koblenz 
<zod111@y...> wrote:
> Thank you. I plan to be using MacOS9 & X.  -BArry
>

Cool! Thanks.

> From: "Charles Bandes" <byronbulb@...>
> Reply-To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 15:15:12 -0000
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: How to Make the Best B&W Prints on a 1280
> 
> 
> Barry - 
> 
> For OSX you can use a new program called QuadtoneRIP which works alongside the
> gimp-print drivers and makes the process of making BW prints almost seamless.
> The 
> best part is that it's free.
> 
> You may want to check out MIS' (inksupply.com) new line of "UltraTone" inks
> which 
> ostensibly work pretty well on gloss/lustre papers while still working fine on
> matte as 
> well. 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Barry Koblenz
> <zod111@y...> wrote:
>> > Thank you. I plan to be using MacOS9 & X.  -BArry
>> > 
> 
> 
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> 
> 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
> 
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> 
> 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
> &amp;amp;quot;flames.&amp;amp;quot;
> - 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
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
> 



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

> Thank you. I plan to be using MacOS9 & X.  -BArry

Barry,

I use my 1280 with Selenium Piezotones under MacOS 9 and drive the printer 
with OpenPrintMaker (OPM). I make profiles for it using InkjetControl (IJC) and 
I am very happy with the results. You may search the archives here beginning 
with message 28545  and check out the OPM/IJC site at:
http://www.bowhaus.com/inkjetcontrol/

Briefly: OPM is a free download and includes a few profiles (some of which I 
contributed as beta tester) and IJC is around $200. Caveats regarding this 
solution: for best results making profiles you should use a densitometer, and 
prepare for a learning curve as IJC is not your typical mac app. In return, you 
get to fine tune your printer to any paper that is compatible with your chosen 
inkset. 
IJC gives you direct control of each of the 6 nozzles in the 1280 via ink curves. 
This allows you to go much further than a simple profile: you can use "toner" 
inks for a couple of ink channels and tweak the color of your bw pretty much 
on the fly (you can also blend between 2 proflies just before you are ready to 
print).

If you happen to go with any flavor of Piezotones (PT) and follow their original 
ink positions (i.e. no toners etc), chances are that the 1280 profile that is 
included in the free OPM download will work fine on most Hahnemuhle 
papers (I made it with PhotoRag). It would be a good starting point, anyway, 
but in the long run you will be best served  if you can tweak your profiles to 
keep your system conistent over time.  The whole idea behind IJC is to help 
us get away from canned profiles of any sort. 

If you go with PTs, remember that they only work on matte papers.  For glossy, 
you should read up on the UltraTones on the MIS site  and see what users 
have been saying here regarding bronzing etc. The promising part of this 
inkset is that it can work with both matte and glossy - like the Ultrachromes do. 

Antonis

I have to recommend the Selenium Piezotones as well.  I had an 1160 
that died - but before it went all the way out, I made some reference 
prints with the Selenium Piezotones that I have been using to try and 
equal with my new 7600.  I'm getting close with custom Quadtones.  
However, I purchased a Canon S9000 specifically for loading with the 
Selenium PTs to print ALL of my smaller format B/W.  The Canon PTs 
are scheduled for release in May and are stated as being compatible 
with glossy media as well as matte.  I cannot afford to dedicate the 
7600 to B/W at this time.

Bobby

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Antonis Ricos" 
<antonisphoto@y...> wrote:
> > Thank you. I plan to be using MacOS9 & X.  -BArry
> 
> Barry,
> 
> I use my 1280 with Selenium Piezotones under MacOS 9 and drive the 
printer 
> with OpenPrintMaker (OPM). I make profiles for it using 
InkjetControl (IJC) and 
> I am very happy with the results. You may search the archives here 
beginning 
> with message 28545  and check out the OPM/IJC site at:
> http://www.bowhaus.com/inkjetcontrol/
> 
> Briefly: OPM is a free download and includes a few profiles (some 
of which I 
> contributed as beta tester) and IJC is around $200. Caveats 
regarding this 
> solution: for best results making profiles you should use a 
densitometer, and 
> prepare for a learning curve as IJC is not your typical mac app. In 
return, you 
> get to fine tune your printer to any paper that is compatible with 
your chosen 
> inkset. 
> IJC gives you direct control of each of the 6 nozzles in the 1280 
via ink curves. 
> This allows you to go much further than a simple profile: you can 
use "toner" 
> inks for a couple of ink channels and tweak the color of your bw 
pretty much 
> on the fly (you can also blend between 2 proflies just before you 
are ready to 
> print).
> 
> If you happen to go with any flavor of Piezotones (PT) and follow 
their original 
> ink positions (i.e. no toners etc), chances are that the 1280 
profile that is 
> included in the free OPM download will work fine on most Hahnemuhle 
> papers (I made it with PhotoRag). It would be a good starting 
point, anyway, 
> but in the long run you will be best served  if you can tweak your 
profiles to 
> keep your system conistent over time.  The whole idea behind IJC is 
to help 
> us get away from canned profiles of any sort. 
> 
> If you go with PTs, remember that they only work on matte papers.  
For glossy, 
> you should read up on the UltraTones on the MIS site  and see what 
users 
> have been saying here regarding bronzing etc. The promising part of 
this 
> inkset is that it can work with both matte and glossy - like the 
Ultrachromes do. 
> 
> Antonis