Digital BW, The Print

Hello All,

My new 4800 arrived today (bought from TheNerds.net, $1730 plus $72 
shipping, no tax to California).  I set it up, updated the software, did a 
head alignment, and was printing.  I have only the PK ink... MK is not 
included in package.  So far I've only tried the "Premium Luster 250" paper 
that was in the box (they supply it for the head alignments).  I assigned 
the "Pro4800 PLPP250" profile in Photoshop and told the printer to do no 
color management.

After testing some color (gorgeous, right out of the box) and B&W using the 
Advanced B&W mode (also gorgeous, though both B&W and color seem to show a 
bit of gloss differential), I decided to try black only.  I expected the 
"text-only quality" settings that others have mentioned... 720 dpi, etc.

Surprise!  When you go to the "Color" dropdown and select Black (the other 
possibilites are Color and Advanced B&W Photo), then go to "Advanced", all 
the photo-quality options are right there!  Under "Print Quality", 
specifically, you can choose from Fine (720), Super Fine (1440), and Super 
Photo (2880).

I've only tried 2880 so far.  Makes a VERY SMOOTH BO print... practically 
dotless, very good black density, and no banding at all.  (Of course, my 
standards of comparison are a 1270 and a 2000P!)  I checked with a powerful 
loupe and saw no colors.  (The same loupe easily revealed color dots in the 
Advanced B&W version of the same print.)  A touch of Print Shield cured the 
slight gloss differential.  That's the good news.  Bad news?  The ink tone 
is quite warm with a slight greenish cast, especially around 80% density on 
a step wedge.  (At least, on Premium Luster paper it is.) Not the prettiest 
thing I've seen.  But maybe with a PK-N equivalent on board, or Eboni on 
matte paper... ?

I can only assume Epson has just recently enabled the photo-quality options 
for BO in the newer driver versions... I'm using v5.52, released on June 30. 
Or did I misunderstand the comments of others on the list? Perhaps the BO 
quality limitations in the driver only happen with MK ink?

John Broski

John

According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all three blacks and
potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any paper other
than "plain paper".  So you are looking at a greyscale with at least 3Ks
which is why it is so smooth.

Steve

> From: John Broski <jbroski@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2005 20:56:04 -0700
> To: Digital B&W List <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> My new 4800 arrived today (bought from TheNerds.net, $1730 plus $72
> shipping, no tax to California).  I set it up, updated the software, did a
> head alignment, and was printing.  I have only the PK ink... MK is not
> included in package.  So far I've only tried the "Premium Luster 250" paper
> that was in the box (they supply it for the head alignments).  I assigned
> the "Pro4800 PLPP250" profile in Photoshop and told the printer to do no
> color management.
> 
> After testing some color (gorgeous, right out of the box) and B&W using the
> Advanced B&W mode (also gorgeous, though both B&W and color seem to show a
> bit of gloss differential), I decided to try black only.  I expected the
> "text-only quality" settings that others have mentioned... 720 dpi, etc.
> 
> Surprise!  When you go to the "Color" dropdown and select Black (the other
> possibilites are Color and Advanced B&W Photo), then go to "Advanced", all
> the photo-quality options are right there!  Under "Print Quality",
> specifically, you can choose from Fine (720), Super Fine (1440), and Super
> Photo (2880).
> 
> I've only tried 2880 so far.  Makes a VERY SMOOTH BO print... practically
> dotless, very good black density, and no banding at all.  (Of course, my
> standards of comparison are a 1270 and a 2000P!)  I checked with a powerful
> loupe and saw no colors.  (The same loupe easily revealed color dots in the
> Advanced B&W version of the same print.)  A touch of Print Shield cured the
> slight gloss differential.  That's the good news.  Bad news?  The ink tone
> is quite warm with a slight greenish cast, especially around 80% density on
> a step wedge.  (At least, on Premium Luster paper it is.) Not the prettiest
> thing I've seen.  But maybe with a PK-N equivalent on board, or Eboni on
> matte paper... ?
> 
> I can only assume Epson has just recently enabled the photo-quality options
> for BO in the newer driver versions... I'm using v5.52, released on June 30.
> Or did I misunderstand the comments of others on the list? Perhaps the BO
> quality limitations in the driver only happen with MK ink?
> 
> John Broski

< According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all three 
blacks and
> potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any paper 
other
> than "plain paper".  >


That happens when "Advanced B&W" is selected.

Could you provide a link to the Epson statment you are referring to?

Thanks,

Scott

Go back and take a look at the posts in which this was discussed.  I spoke
to Epson tech support directly so there is no quote to point you to.  The
question was elevated two levels up in Epson UK Tech UK before they came
back with the "definitive" answer.

> From: scott_now_coming <scott_now_coming@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 17:53:03 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> 
> < According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all three
> blacks and
>> potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any paper
> other
>> than "plain paper".  >
> 
> 
> That happens when "Advanced B&W" is selected.
> 
> Could you provide a link to the Epson statment you are referring to?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Scott

O.K., thnaks.

Scott

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale 
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
> Go back and take a look at the posts in which this was discussed.  
I spoke
> to Epson tech support directly so there is no quote to point you 
to.  The
> question was elevated two levels up in Epson UK Tech UK before they 
came
> back with the "definitive" answer.
> 
> 
> > From: scott_now_coming <scott_now_coming@y...>
> > Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 17:53:03 -0000
> > To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> > 
> > < According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all 
three
> > blacks and
> >> potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any 
paper
> > other
> >> than "plain paper".  >
> > 
> > 
> > That happens when "Advanced B&W" is selected.
> > 
> > Could you provide a link to the Epson statment you are referring 
to?

> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Scott

I fought the green battle with my 2200 when I first got it. I eventually got it straight. Is the 4800 going to be the same war all over again? That was a huge pain and resulted in a lot of waste. 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Steve Kale 
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 4:41 AM
  Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)


  John

  According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all three blacks and
  potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any paper other
  than "plain paper".  So you are looking at a greyscale with at least 3Ks
  which is why it is so smooth.

  Steve


  > From: John Broski <jbroski@...>
  > Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
  > Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2005 20:56:04 -0700
  > To: Digital B&W List <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
  > Subject: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
  > 
  >Bad news?  The ink tone
  > is quite warm with a slight greenish cast, especially around 80% density on
  > a step wedge.  (At least, on Premium Luster paper it is.) Not the prettiest
  > 

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

No you don't need BO to fight the green battle. The 4800 is a massive
improvement on the 2200 out-of-the-box.

> From: Stephen M Martin <steve@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 18:07:34 -0400
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> 
> I fought the green battle with my 2200 when I first got it. I eventually got
> it straight. Is the 4800 going to be the same war all over again? That was a
> huge pain and resulted in a lot of waste.
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Steve Kale
>   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 4:41 AM
>   Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> 
> 
>   John
> 
>   According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all three blacks and
>   potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any paper other
>   than "plain paper".  So you are looking at a greyscale with at least 3Ks
>   which is why it is so smooth.
> 
>   Steve

What Steve said. I'm getting great (and dead neutral) results using
Epson's Advance B&W 
mode, from pix already converted to B&W in ps. Couldn't be happier.

Brad
Urban pix: www.citysnaps.net



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale
<stevekale@b...> 
wrote:
> No you don't need BO to fight the green battle. The 4800 is a
massive
> improvement on the 2200 out-of-the-box.
> 
> 
> > From: Stephen M Martin <steve@s...>
> > Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 18:07:34 -0400
> > To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> > 
> > I fought the green battle with my 2200 when I first got it. I
eventually got
> > it straight. Is the 4800 going to be the same war all over again?
That was a
> > huge pain and resulted in a lot of waste.
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   From: Steve Kale
> >   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> >   Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 4:41 AM
> >   Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 4800... Black-Only Lives! (???)
> > 
> > 
> >   John
> > 
> >   According to Epson, as noted in previous posts, it uses all
three blacks and
> >   potentially some colour ink when "black" is selected for any
paper other
> >   than "plain paper".  So you are looking at a greyscale with at
least 3Ks

> >   which is why it is so smooth.
> > 
> >   Steve

As is the 2100/2200's successor - the 2400. My 2100/IP is now collecting 
dust - the only good use for it now would be for mixed color/b&W printing 
with IP 6, but only on matte paper.

Bob Frost.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Kale" <stevekale@...>


The 4800 is a massive improvement on the 2200 out-of-the-box.

With the 4800 or the 2400, Brad?

Thanks.
--
Sam


>What Steve said. I'm getting great (and dead neutral) results using
>Epson's Advance B&W
>mode, from pix already converted to B&W in ps. Couldn't be happier.
>
>Brad
>Urban pix: www.citysnaps.net
[snip]

Sam, the 4800 - have had it for a couple weeks now.

Brad
Urban pix: www.citysnaps.net


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Sam McCandless
<samcc@v...> 
wrote:

> With the 4800 or the 2400, Brad?
> 
> Thanks.
> --
> Sam
> 
> 
> >What Steve said. I'm getting great (and dead neutral) results using
> >Epson's Advance B&W
> >mode, from pix already converted to B&W in ps. Couldn't be happier.
> >
> >Brad
> >Urban pix: www.citysnaps.net
> [snip]