Digital BW, The Print

When you were first beginning with whatever b&w workflow (or 
specifically MIS VM/Epson 1280) you use how long was it before you 
got prints that weren't total junk and embarrassed to show even your 
mother? 

I've tried different sets of curves, adjusting those, a couple 
different papers. It's been about 2 weeks since I got the MIS inks 
and other than a 100step wedge here and there, I can't get anything 
out of this I would admit as my own. Is there another "standard" test 
image that one could use? I find the step wedges do nothing to judge 
gradation. I've got numerous wedges that look great, but I try to 
print an image, something isn't right. Now if that wasn't ticking me 
off I get microbanding throughout the prints. I can run through every 
utility in the driver. Next image or maybe two I try will have no 
banding. But by the third print, I have banding again. I've had the 
printer for almost a month now, before the MIS inks I did some images 
with BO. I haven't gotten anything yet from the VM setup that looks 
half as good as BO. 

matt betea

Matt
I am in the same position (I use 1290). I could put on an exhibition of stepwedges but for prints, very few. There are so many other possible reasons for poor results, it is hard to lay the blame anywhere. 
My problem isn't banding but posterisation. I blame it on converting the print from colour to black and white, but it looks okay on screen, just waste paper in print.
I have got a couple of prints that are reasonable, but don't now how I did it. So I will just keep thrashing around, trying Lyson, then MIS, then back to Lyson, soon I'll try Piezography. Perhaps I could buy a darkroom?
John

Hello John,

> Perhaps I could buy a darkroom?


I have one I'll sell real cheap <g>.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

Matt,

I got to the point where I was getting acceptable
results with my 860 and MIS FS - and then the printer
died.  So, tried a 750, 1160, 875 w/ hextones, and
finally have replaced it with a 1280...  So, the
moral, once you get a really great print - your
printer will die a miserable death, so make sure it's
under warranty.

Being the advocate now, if the BO works...

Don


> I did some images 
> with BO. I haven't gotten anything yet from the VM
> setup that looks 
> half as good as BO. 
> 
> matt betea
> 

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Hey what can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment <g>
I really am starting to think I have a lemon on my hands. I got 
banding a couple times with the Epson inks (BO). It's just hit and 
miss. Same settings, same image, same everything I can print over and 
over and get it on some, not others. As well as different degrees. 
I've also never known a printer to squeal. I get high pitched squeals 
here and there, sometimes it'll last the whole print, other times 
maybe for a few seconds. It doesn't matter what dpi I'm printing at 
or how big the image is. 

The posterization I'm getting I don't understand. I tried printing 
with no curve at all and it's still horrible. To give an idea of the 
exact posterization I'm getting. You know how the image looks after 
you apply a tone curve? It's exactly how that looks but all gray 
values. 

Not to mention I think the darn printer will be out of warranty 
before I can make any sense out of Epson Tech support people. I spent 
20 mins trying to give the guy my model and serial number because he 
didn't know how to do it. Well I'm not staying up all night again 
with this thing. So I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

matt betea
--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "D. Hill" 
<hill14701@y...> wrote:

> Matt,
> 
> I got to the point where I was getting acceptable
> results with my 860 and MIS FS - and then the printer
> died.  So, tried a 750, 1160, 875 w/ hextones, and
> finally have replaced it with a 1280...  So, the
> moral, once you get a really great print - your
> printer will die a miserable death, so make sure it's
> under warranty.
> 
> Being the advocate now, if the BO works...
> 
> Don

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones" <cj@c...> wrote:
> Hello John,
> 
> > Perhaps I could buy a darkroom?
> 
> 
> I have one I'll sell real cheap <g>.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton
> 
> 
> Info on black and white digital printing at    
> http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

Thanks Clayton - it's just like washing-up in the dark, isn't it? I'll stick to filling my waste paper bin in daylight for the moment. Nothing worth doing was ever easy, so I'm told, so perhaps the reward of beautiful prints is out there.
John

I am in the same position too.  I tried Permajets VT Blax same 
problem.  I have now tried the MIS Ultratones but still no joy.  I 
can get display prnts (the ones Permajet use to show how good the VT 
Blax are) to print nicely along with the wedges but 'real images' of 
mine do not want to rpint cleanly; they all have some form of 
posterisation.  I have now resorted to black only to get good clean 
blacks and various grays and varying the paper type to increase the 
contrast.

Is there any way to see how the tones will look when you are in PS7 
before you waste paper printing it out?

Thanks for the help

Gareth

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Matt Betea" 
<mbetea@w...> wrote:
> When you were first beginning with whatever b&w workflow (or 
> specifically MIS VM/Epson 1280) you use how long was it before you 
> got prints that weren't total junk and embarrassed to show even 
your 
> mother? 
> 
> I've tried different sets of curves, adjusting those, a couple 
> different papers. It's been about 2 weeks since I got the MIS inks 
> and other than a 100step wedge here and there, I can't get anything 
> out of this I would admit as my own. Is there another "standard" 
test 
> image that one could use? I find the step wedges do nothing to 
judge 
> gradation. I've got numerous wedges that look great, but I try to 
> print an image, something isn't right. Now if that wasn't ticking 
me 
> off I get microbanding throughout the prints. I can run through 
every 
> utility in the driver. Next image or maybe two I try will have no 
> banding. But by the third print, I have banding again. I've had the 
> printer for almost a month now, before the MIS inks I did some 
images 

> with BO. I haven't gotten anything yet from the VM setup that looks 
> half as good as BO. 
> 
> matt betea

on 9/3/03 6:15 PM, Clayton Jones at cj@... wrote:

> Hello John,
> 
>> Perhaps I could buy a darkroom?
> 
> 
> I have one I'll sell real cheap <g>.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton

! Me too! : >

Sue Tallon

www.tallonphoto.com

On 09/04 09:37, Sue Tallon wrote:
> on 9/3/03 6:15 PM, Clayton Jones at cj@... wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > I have one I'll sell real cheap <g>.
> > 
> > 
> > Regards,
> > Clayton
> 
> ! Me too! : >
> 
> Sue Tallon

Any of you guys have a roll film washer that'll hold at least 4 120
reels?
-- 
Eric

> Any of you guys have a roll film washer that'll hold at least 4 120
> reels?
> Eric

You could make your own out of PVC Pipe.

> Any of you guys have a roll film washer that'll hold at least 4 120
> reels?

Geez it's been so long since I've processed roll film I can't remember!

Sue

www.tallonphoto.com

> Any of you guys have a roll film washer that'll hold at least 4 120
> reels?

No, sorry.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm