Digital BW, The Print

A new groupie looking for advice

I am falling in love with Black and White images (why else would I am a member of this group).

I am interested in the digital darkroom aspect of the process.

I would appreciate  advice on how to proceed 

Here is where I am now.

iMac 24 inch 2.8 GHz Intel core Duo, 2 gig ram
Epson SP 2200 printer with Epson inks
Epson V700 photo scanner running Silverfast SE 6.6.06r
Photoshop Elements ver. 4.0
Huey Pro 
Intuos 2 4x5 tablet

I have been printing using Epson ink and paper.  when I figure out the cost, I will have to give up eating in order to pursue  this growing passion.
 
Questions I have.

If I convert the printer to a carbon ink set, what one?
What upgrades to hardware or software, if  any, would be the most cost effective?
Resources, either on the internet or printed, that contains the most pertinent information?

 I am very limited in cash as I was forced on medical leave from my employment last January.

Thanks in advance for your help.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Garrett Taylor" <garrettaylor@...> wrote:
>
> A new groupie looking for advice
> 
> I am falling in love with Black and White images (why else would I am a member of this group).
> 
> I am interested in the digital darkroom aspect of the process.
> 
> I would appreciate  advice on how to proceed 
> 
> Here is where I am now.
> 
> iMac 24 inch 2.8 GHz Intel core Duo, 2 gig ram
> Epson SP 2200 printer with Epson inks
> Epson V700 photo scanner running Silverfast SE 6.6.06r
> Photoshop Elements ver. 4.0
> Huey Pro 
> Intuos 2 4x5 tablet
> 
> I have been printing using Epson ink and paper.  when I figure out the cost, I will have to give up eating in order to pursue  this growing passion.
>  
> Questions I have.
> 
> If I convert the printer to a carbon ink set, what one?
> What upgrades to hardware or software, if  any, would be the most cost effective?
> Resources, either on the internet or printed, that contains the most pertinent information?
> 
<Snip>

Garrett,

You can save money on ink by going to a continuous inking system.

http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/sc.15/category.1261/.f

http://www.inksupply.com/cfs_2200_new.cfm

Which ink set will depend upon whether you want to primarily print on matte or glossy paper.

There is little you can do about paper cost. Epson papers are generally some of the least expensive by a considerable amount.

I am not a Mac user but 2GB of ram seems pretty low and your Photoshop Elements 4 is three versions behind.

You will also most likely want a copy of QuadTone RIP if you are going to work with a grayscale ink set.

http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRoverview.html

Poke around the Inkjet Mall, MIS, and Paul Roark websites for ideas and information.

You may need to ask more specific questions here to get responses.

Best,
Martin Wesley

> ...
> You can save money on ink by going to a continuous inking system.
> 
> http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/sc.15/category.1261/.f
> 
> http://www.inksupply.com/cfs_2200_new.cfm

I've also used empty SuperJetUSA CISs with success.  See, for example, http://www.superjetusa.com/shop/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=empty+cis+1400  --  a page I got to by simply searching "cis empty 1400" on their main page -- http://www.superjetusa.com/shop/

 
> Which ink set will depend upon whether you want to primarily
> print on matte or glossy paper.

Some allow both types without chaning inks.  See 
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/UT14.pdf

 
> There is little you can do about paper cost. Epson 
> papers are generally some of the least expensive by 
> a considerable amount.

Beware that (Ultra) Epson Premium Presentation Matte is acidic.  You can buy acid free papers from some companies, like Red River -- 
http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/premium-matte-inkjet-papers.html -- for about the same as you'd pay for acidic Epson paper.

For name brand papers, check http://www.atlex.com/ for prices.

There is a lot in information to dig through and lots of different ways to go.  

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com