Ernst,
I've done a bit more experimenting with the Epson driver on the 3880.
Note that it's the ABW mode that is doing something different from the usual driver -- smoother and better dmax.
With regard to smoothness, I can beat the ABW with QTR in the highlights (under a loupe and bright light) just because ABW is putting some LLK in there and I can use lighter inks with QTR.
The Epson ABW mode is smoother in the mid-values and shadows than either the Epson driver in color mode or QTR. I would be curious to see what Jon's curves and QTR can do with the 3880.
With respect to an old favorite (aside from its 200 gsm curl), the Premier Art Smooth Bright White dmax with QTR and ABW are the same even in next day read, and both are above the normal Epson driver. I suspect with some papers that can take a huge ink load QTR will be able to beat ABW. Obviously Arches comes to mind, but even high load inkjet papers ought to be able to take better advantage of the custom ink loads we can dial into QTR.
I am curious what ABW is doing to achieve the superior performance. It's a bit odd and just a happy coincidence that whatever they are doing works with a monotone inkset -- as long as it's installed in an Epson-compatible ink order.
I'm considering altering the 3880 Eb6 LK and LLK to the older recommendation -- 18% and 6% -- instead of the darker 30% and 9% I have in there now. I think that would cause the ABW higlights to match QTR's and also the shadows might be closer to gray gamma 2.2 even without an ICC. They currently dip a bit below where they ought to be in the shadows.
I might or might not wait for my fade test results of the all-Canon toner before putting it in the 3880. With the toner in the Y position, and with ABW being so good with this arrangement, having the ABW controls able to manipulate the toner and thus print tone somewhat might make the inkset even more appealing. I'm very curious how much variability I can get with the ABW mode controls. In the past I never liked the Epson Color controls levers.
Paul
On Sat, Jun 6, 2015 at 2:32 AM, Ernst Dinkla ernst.dinkla@... [QuadtoneRIP] <QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Paul,Reading this and your other recent thread it may be interesting to retry Qimage Ultimate again as the application to print from. The QTR ICC (RGB versions) (with ACV curves) remained compatible while Adobe got weak knees facing Apple. So did target printing. The extrapolation algorithms and smart sharpening have always been excellent and you can apply a print filter on the fly so print without the need for creating an extra file. The Qimage curves tool is not exactly my taste but sufficient enough for adapting the linearity in a print filter. Files are not touched in any sense.Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
Dinkla Grafische Techniek
Quad, piëzografie, giclée
www.pigment-print.comOn Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 8:18 PM, roark.paul@... [QuadtoneRIP] <QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com> wrote:This setup is giving me more surprises. Who would have thought the Advanced B&W printing mode would make the best print?
Smoothness of a test strip might be subjective, but so far this ABW with the Eboni-6 setup (draft PDF at http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/3880-Eboni-6.pdf) (and probably any other high-K monotone) seems to be the smoothest print I've seen on a matte paper. It may be the driver is using only the smallest dots and maybe some different dithering pattern.On Epson Hot Press Natural, I'm getting a 1.78 dmax, which is higher than the "color" Epson driver output and probably on a par with QTR.The sharpness of the test strip is due to my use of a low res test strip combined with what looks like "next neighbor" up-res'ing to the native printer resolution. I could get the same look out of QTR by using PS to do a ";next neighbor" image size increase to 360 dpi.And ICCs (made via QTR Create ICC-RGB) work fine with Win7, PS CC and ABW.FWIWPaulPaulRoark.com -- Paul Roark's Photographic HomePaulRoark.com -- Paul Roark's Photographic HomePaul Roark Black and White PhotographyPreview by Yahoo