QTR-Quadtone RIP

Hi all

Any of you who also read the B&W print list may have seen me posting
about really nagging problems with UT7 and my 2200.  Sure I'd like to
sort them out.  But...........

So I'm thinking or wondering how well does QTR work with OE UC inks in
my 2200. OE is dead reliable.  After all my UT7 hell I just installed
7 OE carts, none new and w/o even a cleaning cycle I got a perfect
nozzle check.  How can I beat that.

I also wonder about the new Cone 7 ink sets but a question about the
reliability of those got zero responses on the other list.  If anyone
here uses them and has all the pros and cons I'd like to know.  So far
one Con for me is no glossy papers. I really like Innova F Gloss. I
also use EEM, FVA and PR in matt os it may not be a deal killer if
Cone7's are really good and perform w/o clogs and problems.

Back to original question.  Using QTR and OE UC inks in a 2200 are you
satisfied with the results?  Color shift or Meteramism? 

I did some prints with OE inks on the new Crane/Hana/Innova using the
corect profile provided by the makers.  I saw at PhotoExpo really nice
prints claimed to have been made with all OE inks.  I never quite got
what they did but it was mostly to see a basic starting point with
those papers.  I didn't really pursue perfection at that point.

Have you still wandered off the MIS or Coneland looking for better.

I don't know what papers have been profiled as I haven't even
downloaded QTR yet. 

Has anyone done profiles for the new "air dried fiber" look papers for
OE inks with QTR?

Thanks for any feeling about QTR and OE UC's. 

Neil

I really wish I knew what OE was.

Epson?

Anyway, you got one response on the other list about Cone inks, mine.
I guess you didn't see it.

They give trouble too. When you pull the tabs when you get a new set,
a bit a plastic tends to get stripped off of the tab and remain on the
cartridge, covering the hole.

You do a very cleaning cycles (and that expensive ink just drains
down, I mean FAST). You figure it out, take the cartridge apart, peel
off the offending piece of plastic and then you're set. With about
half as much ink as you thought you would have.

The results, however, are good, are excellent. Not better than the
Epson C86 with Ultratone EZ, but then not much is. That is such a good
combination.

I have used original Epson cartridges with Quadtone on a 2100. Great
stuff, if you ask me. I like being able to get various tones.

The paper choice with the original inks is more limited (less profiles
out of the box), but the papers that are covered are among my
favorites (Epson Enhanced Matte) so it doesn't worry me at all.

Daniel

On 1/6/07, neilsphoto <neilsphoto@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi all
>
>  Any of you who also read the B&W print list may have seen me posting
>  about really nagging problems with UT7 and my 2200.  Sure I'd like to
>  sort them out.  But...........
>
>  So I'm thinking or wondering how well does QTR work with OE UC inks in
>  my 2200. OE is dead reliable.  After all my UT7 hell I just installed
>  7 OE carts, none new and w/o even a cleaning cycle I got a perfect
>  nozzle check.  How can I beat that.
>
>  I also wonder about the new Cone 7 ink sets but a question about the
>  reliability of those got zero responses on the other list.  If anyone
>  here uses them and has all the pros and cons I'd like to know.  So far
>  one Con for me is no glossy papers. I really like Innova F Gloss. I
>  also use EEM, FVA and PR in matt os it may not be a deal killer if
>  Cone7's are really good and perform w/o clogs and problems.
>
>  Back to original question.  Using QTR and OE UC inks in a 2200 are you
>  satisfied with the results?  Color shift or Meteramism?
>
>  I did some prints with OE inks on the new Crane/Hana/Innova using the
>  corect profile provided by the makers.  I saw at PhotoExpo really nice
>  prints claimed to have been made with all OE inks.  I never quite got
>  what they did but it was mostly to see a basic starting point with
>  those papers.  I didn't really pursue perfection at that point.
>
>  Have you still wandered off the MIS or Coneland looking for better.
>
>  I don't know what papers have been profiled as I haven't even
>  downloaded QTR yet.
>
>  Has anyone done profiles for the new "air dried fiber" look papers for
>  OE inks with QTR?
>
>  Thanks for any feeling about QTR and OE UC's.
>
>  Neil
>
>

Dan

No I didn't see your reply but thanks for it.  I did
the QTR thing last night.  
I got home from meeting up with a photographer friend
at 4:10, had to be 15 miles away for dinner at 6:00. I
figured well I may as well at last get QTR in the
computer so I downloaded it. Took 20 secs?  I
installed it. 2 minutes? I read the PDF instructions. 
I made 5 5x7 test prints, warm, cool, 50/50, 20/80 amd
80/20.  I still had time to shower shave and wait for
my wife. We were early for dinner.

How much better does that get?  OE (yes original
equipment) is a term from the auto industry.  The OE
inks I installed were all opened, half used, a month
old and gave me a perfect nozzle check w/o even a
cleaning cycle.

So today I will try the Epson Semi gloss or luster
which ever it is with the Crane Silver Rag, the Hana'
Fine Art Pearl and the Innova F Gloss.  I bet they
will work fine with the Epson profile.  Maybe a few
tweeks.

I'm sure that other Matt papers will be fine with the
EEM profile.  Many of the papers on the list of
profiles I haven't used.

So are you saying that the UT7 EZ is better for you
than the QTR OE system?  And where did the Cone system
fit into that.  Top middle or bottom.

I liked the UT7s, liked the tones, liked the Carbon
prints but the reliability has gotten really bad. In
the last order from MIS I had 2 Ebony carts that
insisted they were PK ink.  They were either PK carts
labled Ebony or Ebony carts with PK chips.  I'm
waiting for those to be replaced.

As for the Cone 6/7 ink set, how often is it
unreliable.  How often do you have to do surgery on
the cart?  Do the carts just stop working in the
middle of a printing session?  

Now that I have QTR I could just get a set and try
them for my Matt paper work.  

Neil

Neil,
I've been printing with 2200/UC inks and QTR on Hana Fine Art Pearl,
and have been very pleased with the results. I have to spray with 2 or
3 coats of UV spray to get rid of the bronzing and gloss differential,
though, and I had to lift the exit rollers for this paper as well.

Steve

>>Posted by: "neilsphoto"  neilsphoto@...     neilsphoto
Sat Jan 6, 2007 12:13 pm (PST)

>>Back to original question. Using QTR and OE UC inks in a 2200 are you
satisfied with the results? Color shift or Meteramism?

>>Has anyone done profiles for the new "air dried fiber" look papers for
OE inks with QTR?

-- 
Steve German PhotoGraphics
  Equine photography
    Wedding photography
       Graphic design
           www.sgphoto.net

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "Steve German" <steve@...> wrote:
>
> Neil,
> I've been printing with 2200/UC inks and QTR on Hana Fine Art Pearl,
> and have been very pleased with the results. I have to spray with 2 or
> 3 coats of UV spray to get rid of the bronzing and gloss differential,
> though, and I had to lift the exit rollers for this paper as well.

Steve

I've been doing some tests on the same paper as well as Crane Silver
Rag and Innova F Gloss.  All results are good. The Hana and the Innova
are in my eye  very very much the same.  The Crane is a warmer paper
base so you get warmer tones. 

As for roller marks when I was testing the same 3 papers with UT7 on
the 2200 I found something interesting.  The Crane was the worst for
roller/PW (pizza wheel) marks, the Hana would get them on prints with
lots of black and the Innova never got marks at all.

However if I printed color the Innova had green shadows when wet and
dry, teh other 2 were less green when wet and dryed down neutral. 
This was only in higher ISO shots with a middle tone shadow, not a
deep shadow.

So far I am really pleased with the QTR UC combo.  Simple, no clog
variable tone system with 3 sources for carts within 2 miles of my house. 


Neil

Hi,
I've been using a 2100 (=2200) with UC inks on Enhanced Matte (for proofs), Photo Rag, Epson Velvet, Moab Entrada Bright and Moab Kayenta, all with great results.

I think that the UltraChrome inks are really underrated for BW work. 

And I can still do the occasional colour print.

I'm very satisfied and I'm fussy about my prints.

Not sussed out making my own curves yet though, so I'm still printing too many proofs.

Good luck,
Richard
--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us."
   --John Dryden

Something I forgot to mention: using QTR all but eliminates metamerism even with UC inks in my experience. Prints done with the Epson driver as RGB BW prints or using a Photoshop Duotone have gone slightly magenta under fluorescent lighting which is one reason why I stick to QTR for BW work.

Richard
--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "A religious conservative is a fanatic about a dead radical."
   --anon