Digital BW, The Print

Greetings. I have just upgraded to a 7800 and have decided to dedicate 
my Epson 4000 to B&W work with a bulk ink delivery system. My research 
suggests that there are just two inksets worth looking at. John Cone's 
and Paul Roark's. If you were in my position, starting from square one, 
what would your advice be as to the advantages and disadvantages of 
each.? Thanks.

>... have decided to dedicate my Epson 4000 to B&W work 
> with a bulk ink delivery system.

I'm not sure about the bulk ink devices.  Some like the clear funnel fill
carts.  (I just refill normal carts with my 7500.)

> My research suggests that there are just two inksets worth 
> looking at. John Cone's and Paul Roark's.

I don't really have any inksets.  I just mix what I'm interested in, usually
with MIS inks, and they often sell those formulas.

> If you were in my position, starting from square one, 
> what would your advice be as to the advantages and 
> disadvantages of each? 

Piezo ink: $44/ 4 oz. bottle;

MIS ink: $18/ 4 oz. bottle;

Piezo: Matte paper only;

MIS: Matte and glossy compatible;

Piezo: Rip needed;

MIS: Epson driver or rip.  Epson driver is more than twice as fast as the
popular rips.

Both Piezo and MIS current inksets are very lightfast and appear to be
relatively clog free.

Piezo emphasizes ultimate in smoothness.

MIS inksets emphasize flexibility with very good to excellent smoothness.

What's best for you depends on your priorities and experience level.

I'm currently working with the UT-3D inkset on a 220
(http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/UT-3D_Readme.pdf) and K4+cm (with various
modifications) on a 7500 and 2200 (http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/4K+.pdf).
Both of these approaches will work on a 4000.  However, there are only
limited curves or profiles available for the 4000.

If you are just starting out, having pre-made profiles is an important
consideration.

Although I've most often used RGB curves with Photoshop and blended inksets
(toners that are a mix of carbon and color pigments), I'm leaning toward
non-blended inksets similar to the K3 approach and rips to control them.  My
initial conclusion is that rips are easier to write new profiles for.  With
IJC/OPM, once the carbon cross-overs are made, the toning curves are rather
easy.  I'm now starting to work with QTR, and my initial conclusions are
that the QTR method of partitioning the carbon inks works very well, even if
it has a bit of a black box character.  The curves interface (or lack
thereof) makes the task of setting up the toning curves, at least with the
detail I'm accustomed to, a bit more difficult.  But, simplifying that
process is what I'm looking at now.

Good luck with whatever approach you go with.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

At 10:05 PM Sunday 12/17/2006, you wrote:
>Greetings. I have just upgraded to a 7800 and have decided to dedicate 
>my Epson 4000 to B&W work with a bulk ink delivery system. My research 
>suggests that there are just two inksets worth looking at. John Cone's 
>and Paul Roark's. If you were in my position, starting from square one, 
>what would your advice be as to the advantages and disadvantages of 
>each.? Thanks.

Hi John,
I think I replied to this before, but I think I didn't mention that the Eboni ink from MIS is the only pigment black that will work on both glossy and matte papers without bronzing.

So that might be a consideration.

(We met when I was exhibiting at Matakana Pictures).

Good luck,
Richard 
--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "There is not enough darkness in the whole world to put out 
   the light of a single candle."
   --Anonymous