Digital BW, The Print

I purchased a new-old stock Epson 860 (4-color) to use only for BW.  Since I
need to print on glossy paper, my choices for ink were limited to dye-based
inks and I settled on the Lyson Quad Black's.  I was disappointed with the
strong magenta cast of the inks under virtually any light source, and this
was on the recommended Lyson Pro Glossy 265g paper.  I switched to the Lyson
Small Gamut, again using the Lyson paper, Canon Pro Glossy & Epson Premium
Glossy.    Though I could get more bluish photo like tones out of the Small
Gamut set, I found the set to not have as "pure" a photographic look as the
Quad Black set.   The small gamut looked more digital, and has bronzing
problems with the papers I was using (including the Lyson paper).   The
Small Gamut ink set also does not have the smooth gradients in the
highlights possible with darkroom printing.

I recently went back to the Lyson Quad Blacks.  Putting the metamorphism
problem aside, I think in all other regards the Lyson Quads superior ink to
the Lyson Small Gamut and I'm getting good useable results with the Quads on
Epson Paper.   Once the Epson is used up I'll probably try the Ilford
Classic Gloss.

As my photos are primarily Headshots where the clients have them duplicated,
I've found that where previously the lithographers requested the file on CD
for duplication, they are now able to work off of the digitally printed Quad
Black print.   It actually looks good, especially scanned from a Portra BW
negative on my Nikon LS40 and worked in Photoshop.   Hope this helps and I
would be interested in hearing other's experiences.

Rick Schiller
www.rickschiller.com






   Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 17:45:48 -0000
   From: "jawa_350002" <xamol@...>
Subject: lyson's quad black inks

I wonder whether anyone on this list has used these inks?
I have downloaded an ICC profile for my Epson 870 but I
have not found one for my Epson 800 (4 channel printer)
for which I've now got the 2 quad-black cartridges. Previously
I used Lyson's Small Gamut inks in the 800, with reasonable results,
but some of the prints changed colour almost as badly as the OEM INk
on the Epson 870. I would be grateful to hear what experiences others
have had, with the Quad Black inks especially.
Thanks in advance!
Serena Wadham.

----- Original Message -----

From: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:44 AM
Subject: [Digital BW] Digest Number 1663