Digital BW, The Print

My name is Eirik Berger and I come from Norway.

I am a large format photographer using mostly BW-film, which I develop and scan in my own lab. Earlier I had a wet darkroom, but now I make digital prints or digital negatives for contact printing (carbon transfer printing). It is fun mixing new and old technology that way.

I consider myself critical when it comes to quality, both in image capture and print, and I am not a "this is good enough" kind of person. Convenience is not a word I use often...

Until now I have only  used this forum for information and submerged myself in other users knowledge. Time to come out and contribute myself.

When it comes to digital printmaking I started a decade ago, and have used different setups. I used an Epson 7500 with IJC/OPM and Ultratone inks. I also used a R2400 with QTR and OEM inks for making digital negatives.

A year ago my workshop in Longyearbyen/Svalbard was flooded with water because of frozen pipes. All equipment were destroyed. Luckily my Scanview Scanmate F8 plus were not there, I had it at home. It was the only "survivor". And to make the story complete, the insurance company would not give me anything...

Now I have decided that I will not only make BW prints for my self, but I will provide this service to the "local" market (Scandinava). I run a small design business, so the administrative infrastructure is there already. The last year I have used to replace all the equipment I lost. 

Now I have an Epson 3800 with Piezography Selenium K7 (MPS) ink, perfect setup with both blacks and GO. I only have to get around and print a profiling target of my favorite paper (Ilford Gold Fibre Silk) and send to Dana at Inkjetmall for curve-making :) 
I also like the Studio Type 5 paper that I got with the ink. It might be one of my in-house papers that I will provide to my clients. I am making a website as we speak and hopefully I will launch it in july/August.

I also have two Epson 7600 and I am considering of making one of them a Gloss-only printer using the same Selenium K7 ink, with MPS black. Of course I will need a way to coat the print with Gloss Optimizer. I could use the other 7600 for that, or I can coat the prints with a UV-coating of some kind (spray or roller).

In theory – will a coat of lets say ClearJet do the same to a Selenium K7/MPS print as the provided Gloss Optimizer?  I suggest ClearJet because I have used it to coat color prints, and have a dozen boxes or so. I will try it my self, but I haven't had time just yet.

I also have a Scanview Scanmate F8+ (as mentioned) and a Dainippon Screen DTS-1045ai drum scanner, to make optimal input for my printers :)

So this is me, I will try to be an active participant on this forum and be a part of the discussion, and answer questions if I feel I have the knowledge/experience to do so.

Best regards,

Eirik Berger