QTR-Quadtone RIP

Harry,

>> ³Its unfortunate that Epson doesn't do a better job of promoting ABW.
>> Personally I find with solid profiling its a spectacular solution. I
>> am yet to see any other B&W solution outperform a properly profiled
>> ABW, even Cone's K7.²

>Have you actually made that comparison? My experience with K7 (neutral)
>inks, with the supplied profiles, is that the final prints on, say, Han
>PhotoRag, are spectacular (to use a scientific term.)

Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be making the claim :)
I have taken Tyler's K7 print on Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk and
reproduced it with ABW on 7880 to the extent that in blind tests
people can't tell the difference between the prints and nor can I even
on close inspection. I even duplicated the GO overprint (using a QTR
curve on my old 4800).

I will say that the x880 ABW is better than ABW I got from my 4800.
Specifically it has better dithering and that removes some rainbow
color effects when toning.
I am making this claim about the x880 not the x800.

>And how about longevity of K7 vs
> Epson UC? How does that enter into your thinking?

Wilhem gives ABW 100+ years, more than enough for me.
http://www.wilhelm-research.com/epson/R2400.html
page 3 of his report rates ABW prints as follows, depending on the paper:

Framed under normal glass: 110 to >205 years
Framed under UV glass: 110 to >300 years
In dark album storage: > 200 years

> Would you be willing to share your ABW profiles so that others could run
> comparisons?

Sure they are QTR Create ICC produced ABW profiles should be good for
7880 and 9880.
I'll post a set of them into the files section in the next day or so.
But if you have a spectro they are really easy to produce for your machine.

Mike