Digital BW, The Print

I have an Epson 1160 printer more or less gather dust
in the back room.

Lately I've wondered about putting this into duty as a
dedicated B&W printer.

What MIS setup might I seek out and what quality of
results should I expect?  It's a 4 color printer, yes? Can
I expect results akin to my C86 4 color printer, but with
larger print support?

Any downsides to anticipate?

Thanks much for any and all advice.

Scott

Scott,

> I have an Epson 1160 printer more or less gather dust
> in the back room.
> 
> Lately I've wondered about putting this into duty as a
> dedicated B&W printer.
> 
> What MIS setup might I seek out and what quality of
> results should I expect?

The MIS UT-FS and UT-FSN are the best options.  With curves and if the
printer is in good shape it can do a better job than the C86, at least on
matte paper.  I used one for quite a while.  

The downside is that some don't like curves.  With none, it actually gives a
good ramp, but a bit light, and the cyan (dark gray) dots are a bit too
prominent.  The "mild" partitioning curve is probably the best compromise
between smoothness and tolerance of printer, inkset and paper variability.
The full partitioning curves give the ultimate results, but they are also
the most sensitive to variances. 

Good luck with it.  It is a classic quad printer in my view.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Scott, I am also putting an old 1160 back in service and just have to 
decide whether to go with UT-FS or UT-FSN inkset (still hoping some 
kind soul can spare a small sample from each and a stamp... hint, 
hint ;)  I recently pulled out a large number of b&w prints I made 
with mine and the original MIS VM inkset.  Even though *I* could 
never get a perfectly smooth gradient, I was able to make some 
stellar prints using that outdated inkset and Paul's old curves.  A 
good friend of mine who uses a 2200+IP for b&w was amazed at how good 
the 1160 output was.  I still have a spare virgin CFS from MIS... and 
the 1160 is of course the cheapest and easiest way to get that 
going.  Good luck!  The printer is an amazingly cheap route to good 
large b&w prints... maybe I'll just have to live through a few 
more "clogs from hell" before I shell out for the R2400 :)

mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Scott,
> 
> > I have an Epson 1160 printer more or less gather dust
> > in the back room.
> > 
> > Lately I've wondered about putting this into duty as a
> > dedicated B&W printer.
> > 
> > What MIS setup might I seek out and what quality of
> > results should I expect?
> 
> The MIS UT-FS and UT-FSN are the best options.  With curves and if 
the
> printer is in good shape it can do a better job than the C86, at 
least on
> matte paper.  I used one for quite a while.  
> 
> The downside is that some don't like curves.  With none, it 
actually gives a
> good ramp, but a bit light, and the cyan (dark gray) dots are a bit 
too
> prominent.  The "mild" partitioning curve is probably the best 
compromise
> between smoothness and tolerance of printer, inkset and paper 
variability.
> The full partitioning curves give the ultimate results, but they 
are also

> the most sensitive to variances. 
> 
> Good luck with it.  It is a classic quad printer in my view.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com