Matt,
>... In short, I can assume that the EZ inks are a
>GREAT way to get into fine art B&W printing on the cheap?
Yes. That is exactly what the EZ inkset was designed to do.
(I should disclose, for those who don't know, that I'm probably biased in
that I do the design work on these inksets. I'm independent of MIS, receive
no royalties or other money, but I do receive free ink and supplies.)
>Do you anticipate documentation or information about how to mix
>warm vs. neutral for various hues, or about how to change sliders
>and/or gamma for certain effects?
I'm working on a C86 now and will have some notes soon. I'm not 100% sure
I'll recommend staying with the existing inks or upgrading to a new set just
for the C86. So, I'd recommend you stick with carts for the time being and
not buy a CFS.
Filling the C84/C86 carts shown on the MIS webpage at
http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/c84refill.html is so easy
that the real cheap and flexible way to go is buy some of those carts, some
bulk ink, and a few 10 cc syringes.
(These carts may have a few quirks. Cleaning may pull ink out of them faster
than they can release it. So, it may be a good idea to wait for a while
after cleaning cycles for the ink to pool at the outlet. The use of the
Purge4 pattern to get things going may also be useful -- expect the C86 to
spit ink out in these.)
Good luck.
Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
___________________________
--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Matt,
>
> >I read an article on luminous landscape about new EZ inks, which are
> >basically UT inks for use with very cheap Epson printers.
>
> True. They will have the same lightfastness as the UT2 and UT7 inks.
>
> >Obviously, if I only pay $200 to get up and running,
>
> Or less.
>
> > I can't reasonably expect the same quality as if I bought a
> >2200 and all that,
>
> Don't bet on it. The original EZ set in a C82 separated every
single step
> of a 256 step wedge test, with the exception that 255 = 254, and 0 =
1. The
> smoothness was equal to a 2200 with UltraChrome inks and IP 5 RIP. The
> lightfastness in my initial fade tests is better than the UC inks.
>
> >I'm a little mystified as to how it would work. Using only the
> >default print driver, I'm guessing we can't reasonably expect to get
> >out of the printer exactly what we see on the screen.
>
> You have the sliders and gamma controls of the driver available.
>
> Also, if you use Photoshop, there is a soft proof/viewing profile
procedure
> that allows you to match the monitor view to the final print.
>
> >It's just
> >gonna shoot some toned ink out of the yellow nozzle when the driver
> >calls for yellow, some different toned ink for cyan, etc.
>
> With a grayscale file, there is ink shooting out of all the nozzles.
The
> CMY "neutral" EZ inks are all the same density and hue. (Likewise
for the
> warm inks.) You can vary the final print tone or hue by putting in
one or
> more warm (pure carbon pigment) carts. So, you can control the
final print
> tone/hue with the ink installation arrangement. You can also print on
> either matte or glossy by installing different black inks, or the
"Universal
> black" that has some dye and is less lightfast. MIS now has poppet C86
> carts that make this easy and also can be easily re-filled forever
-- very
> nice indeed.
> (See http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/c84refill.html)
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
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