Digital BW, The Print

I've been "away" - but not in the "big house" :-), and now
investigating a 2400 (primarily for B/W) to add to my 4000 and 2200
stable for 17"x and 13"x salon prints.

Assuming OEM (stock) inks & machines in all cases; would some of you
good folks give a judgment of the improvement of the K3 inkset over
the earlier (4000) UltraChrome formula, for both B/W and color
applications?

If "1" is hardly noticeable and "10" is "amazing, can't believe it -
goosebumps",  where would K3 fall on the scale?  Any comments,
perspectives and recommendations would be much appreciated. 

I've of course read the Epson K3 "line"; now I would appreciate
hearing what the pros have found to be "real"!

Thanks,   Gordon

Hello Gordon,

>Assuming OEM (stock) inks & machines in all cases; would some of you
>good folks give a judgment of the improvement of the K3 inkset over
>the earlier (4000) UltraChrome formula, for both B/W and color
>applications?

There are several advantages for K3 ink that have been widely reported
here with general agreement since it appeared in 2005: less bronzing
and gloss differential using PK on glossy papers, three K inks for
very smooth tonal gradations, greater fade resistance, super
performance on the new fiber glossy papers (and for color printing it
seems I've heard there is better gamut as well, maybe someone who
knows about that will comment...).

In addition to the ink, the K3 printers have the Advanced Black and
White mode (ABW) in the driver that's sort of a simple built in RIP
that makes BW prints using primarily the three K inks with small
amounts of color as toners.  The results are excellent with
outstanding ease of use.  With the 4000 it would require a 3rd party
RIP to accomplish similar results.  If you already use a RIP then that
may not be an issue.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
I-Trak 2.1   http://www.cjcom.net/itrak.htm

I'd say the k3 inks rate as high as 7-8 out of 10. I've had 2 k2 
printers and 2 k3 printers, and the k3 inks are significantly better 
in terms of bronzing, gloss differential, and a bit better color 
gamut (if printing color). And ABW is pretty awesome because its dirt 
simple to get great B&W.  Great dmax range & toning too. I should 
mention QTR w/ k3 inks falls into the same category. I use both for 
different papers.  
SteveB

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

>
> I've been "away" - but not in the "big house" :-), and now
> investigating a 2400 (primarily for B/W) to add to my 4000 and 2200
> stable for 17"x and 13"x salon prints.
> 
> Assuming OEM (stock) inks & machines in all cases; would some of you
> good folks give a judgment of the improvement of the K3 inkset over
> the earlier (4000) UltraChrome formula, for both B/W and color
> applications?
> 
> If "1" is hardly noticeable and "10" is "amazing, can't believe it -
> goosebumps",  where would K3 fall on the scale?  Any comments,
> perspectives and recommendations would be much appreciated. 
> 
> I've of course read the Epson K3 "line"; now I would appreciate
> hearing what the pros have found to be "real"!
> 
> Thanks,   Gordon
>