Digital BW, The Print

Hello. I originally posted this on the QTR group but after additional time thought it might 
be generic enough question for this forum.  I have at home an Epson 1280 and the printer 
that replaced it an Epson 2200. I realize these are old printers in the scheme of things but 
they have and still serve me well. I also own an Eye One Photo package and have been
making profiles for my printers for several years and get excellent screen to print match. I 
have mostly concentrated on color printing the past several years but am looking to 
venture into the world of B&W. I downloaded QTR the other day and played around with 
printing to my Epson 2200 and was somewhat pleased with the output although I realize I 
could probably do better.  I have also taken a look at the Paul Roark workflow but have not 
tried them out as they seem to require dedicated ink sets. I am not in the market for a new 
printer at this time although the Epson 2400 looks inviting.

Several questions:

1) Will I get better results from a dedicated 1280 with third party  inks for B&W or do I use 
the Epson 2200 w/ stock UC inks and QTR?
2) QTR - I believe that I have the workflow for soft proofing correct. If I use the soft proof 
in CS2 using the gray matte profile, this is a general representation of my image printing 
through QTR assuming a neutral print. I may also convert the image to the QTR Gray 2.2 
workspace and work on it that way.
3) Is there a way to soft proof curve blends in QTR or with the Paul Roark curves

Sorry for the rookie questions and thank you in advance for your reply.

--Joel Turner

I can only share with you what I know first-hand and that is that I 
got the best results from my 1280 using MIS "Eboni Black" ink, 
choosing "Black Ink Only" from the 1280 driver. I used an MIS base 
stock cartridge in the color slot. Very economical with sensational 
results. The only other machine I've used is the newer 2400, and the 
B&W prints I've got from it DO NOT match those from the 1280, Black 
Only. I really regret getting rid of the 1280. Since you have it I 
would try Black Only. Cost is absolute minimum. 

I got started with Black Only printing following Clayton's advice:

http://www.cjcom.net/articles/digiprn3.htm




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "jturner4210626" 
> 
> 1) Will I get better results from a dedicated 1280 with third 
party  inks for B&W or do I use 

> the Epson 2200 w/ stock UC inks and QTR?
> 
> --Joel Turner
>