Digital BW, The Print

I'm new to this group and am impressed with the wealth of solid information
about high end digital black and white printing. I have printed for 30 years in the 
darkroom and am now interested in publishing/ sharing my work with my local 
community (primarily as gifts and fund-raisers).  

I have several Black and White photo book projects I would like to print (small run for 
friends) and postcards. These aren't huge runs (20 15 page books, a hundred 
postcards).  But I want the process to be easy and on-going as I complete new work.

I'm having trouble sorting out all the variables.  

After searching this website I just tried testing black only printing (matte paper ) with an 
epson R220 just using the standard Epson Black Ink.   Impressive results!  My work is 
portrait and street photography and I like the luminance of the black only prints.  I'm not 
looking for smooth, extremely fine detail. 

 I would like to emulate the look of a photo book (magazine type semi-gloss 
paper, 35mm triX, documentary look.) I'm guessing this might be  similar to the digital 
offset printing available at sites like MYPublisher but I prefer to do my own printing.


Before I invest in an inkset, paper combination for the R220 I would like more information 
on a wise path.

I don't need to print large...I'm happy sticking with the R220 if I can find an inkset/paper 
combination that will work well and is economical.  I would prefer semi-gloss paper if 
possible. I'm impressed with Paul Roark's and Clayton's information on using the R220 
with MIS inksets, but am not sure if that will work well for this project.   I'd like to print 2 
sided and am concerned about ink offset on the facing pages.  I don't mind buying another 
printer if its a better solution. I occasionally will want to make large prints on Museo or 
Matte paper, but realize one printer may not do both jobs well, so am willing to come up 
with 2 different solutions if that makes more sense.


Here is my wish list for the Photo Book Project:

longevity is important, but durability of handling the images and ink and paper costs are 
equally important.

I would prefer an economical semi-gloss paper stock but will work with matte if
it makes other solutions more realistic.

I'm not interested in complicated profiles, etc.

I like the look of Black Only but that is not a make or break it issue.

Ease of use and economy of material costs are more important than extremely nuanced 
tones

I want the printer to work without a lot of clogging issues to deal with..

Size is not a huge issue.  8.5x11 is fine, but I don't mind investing in a larger printer.

I'm only interested in printing Black and White.

I don't mind investing a bit (around a $1,000) if the printer works well and does the job 
well.

Dye? pigment? Black Only? GLOP? Epson, Canon, HP?

I'm looking for 2 suggestions:

*An economical paper/inkset solution for the R220 for photo books and postcards 
(semigloss if possible).

*A hands down best solution: Printer/paper/inkset combo for photo books and postcards.

Thanks for helping me sort this out!

Steve

How will the books be bound?

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg" <dfaprinting@...> wrote:
>
> How will the books be bound?
>
I have a simple method I use for 8.5x11 of a folded cover with glued binding.  With a larger
printer I can run folded signatures with a stapled or hand stitched binding.

If you are using a RIP like QTR, then you might be able to use
Hammermill BusinessOne Glossy paper (I think that's the proper
name??). It doesn't like very much ink from these pigment printers, so
you will need to be able to change the ink limits and linearization.
It's fairly opaque for it's thickness, and it should work very well in
a "perfect bound" book. It's also fairly cheap at somewhere around
$9.00 for 300 sheets. I haven't done any long term testing because of
the ink limit issue.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg" <dfaprinting@...> wrote:
>
> If you are using a RIP like QTR, then you might be able to use
> Hammermill BusinessOne Glossy paper (I think that's the proper
> name??). It doesn't like very much ink from these pigment printers, so
> you will need to be able to change the ink limits and linearization.
> It's fairly opaque for it's thickness, and it should work very well in
> a "perfect bound" book. It's also fairly cheap at somewhere around
> $9.00 for 300 sheets. I haven't done any long term testing because of
> the ink limit issue.
>
Greg,

Thanks so much for your help.  I'll look into the paper.  Are there any issues with ink offset 
on facing pages and if so any solutions?  Also, is their a particular printer well suited to this 
job?

Thanks again,

Steve

Steve,

I'm still fighting with this paper to try and find something that will
work with color, and not having much luck. The ink doesn't seem to rub
off after it dries, and it doesn't seem to bleed through to the other
side even when over inked. When I contacted Hammermill about this
paper, they simply said it was designed for office type inkjet
printers (whatever that means) even though it says it works with all
inkjet printers. I imagine it will work best with a thermal inkjet
printer, but I bet it fades quickly too.

Text in black only looks OK with the photo black ink that I have
installed, but larger areas quickly over ink. That's why I think that
it should work well with QTR because you could set the ink limits so
that you don't get too much ink.

This paper is about the same thickness as most heavy offset pages, and
the soft gloss makes it look like high end offset printing paper. I
think it may also have a uniform grain for portrait oriented books,
but would probably be OK for landscape orientation too.

For the price it is probably worth a try, I bought mine at Staples, so
you should hopefully find it at just about any good office supply place.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg" <dfaprinting@...> wrote:

>Greg, This paper sounds like a good solution.  I will pick some up and have a go.
I'm not familiar yet with QTR so have a lot to learn.  Thanks for your help and expertise!
-Steve

> Steve,
> 
> I'm still fighting with this paper to try and find something that will
> work with color, and not having much luck. The ink doesn't seem to rub
> off after it dries, and it doesn't seem to bleed through to the other
> side even when over inked. When I contacted Hammermill about this
> paper, they simply said it was designed for office type inkjet
> printers (whatever that means) even though it says it works with all
> inkjet printers. I imagine it will work best with a thermal inkjet
> printer, but I bet it fades quickly too.
> 
> Text in black only looks OK with the photo black ink that I have
> installed, but larger areas quickly over ink. That's why I think that
> it should work well with QTR because you could set the ink limits so
> that you don't get too much ink.
> 
> This paper is about the same thickness as most heavy offset pages, and
> the soft gloss makes it look like high end offset printing paper. I
> think it may also have a uniform grain for portrait oriented books,
> but would probably be OK for landscape orientation too.
> 
> For the price it is probably worth a try, I bought mine at Staples, so
> you should hopefully find it at just about any good office supply place.
>