Digital BW, The Print

Hi Peter,


**
>   I took the ink order and percentages from your "Epson
>
> 7800 & Carbon-6" pdf.
>

I lose track of the old PDFs.  I'll take a look at that.

Originally, I was thinking I'd make what I called a "dual" system with 2
jets per midtone ink.  The second tube would be a return tube that would
allow me to pull the old ink out of the line -- like a power clean, but
with the ability to recover the ink.  In fact, my tests showed that the ink
in the lines was not that much of a problem.  The back and forth of the
head seems to agitate the lines enough, and the amount of ink in the
dampers seem to average out any settling that might have occurred very
close to the head -- at least for the amount of time my printer usually
sits idle.  So, I abandoned the complex "dual" approach.



> So the recommended setup is:
>
> #1 (Black) Eboni MK,
>
> #2 (LK) 18% Eboni
>
> #3 (Cyan) 30% Eboni,
>
> #4 (Magenta) 18 % Eboni,
>
> #5 (LC) 9% Eboni,
>
>
> #6 (LM) 6% Eboni,
>
> #7 (Yellow) 2% Eboni
>

Yes.  It's good to standardize.  That way profiles will be more easily
shared, and it works with the Epson driver.



>
> Is the second 18% used as a toner to minimize crossover visibility?
>


It could be.  However, unfortunately, it does not have a low Lab B.  In
fact, it's about the peak of it.

What you might do is use the LM and M toghther as a toner.  Or, you can
partition without it in the mix and then simply copy the curve from the
first M to the LK and cut the ink limit of both in half.  Even better,
though more complex, would be to use it as a "toner" but manually drawn to
keep it to the mid-section.  You can then lower the ink limits of the
middle inks to compensate for that.

I do like the idea of more than a single, "serial" partition, in part as a
hedge against variations that throw off the cross-overs.  A redundant
midtone ink allows that.  On the other hand, as I mentioned before, I also
am not real thrilled with how steep the cross-overs are with both an LK
(18%) and D (30%) ink in a serial partition.  Again, they look great
initially, but I worry about the steep cross-overs' ability to absorb ink
and paper variations.

I've also thought of using K3 LK as a cooling ink if I wanted cooler
prints.  The K3 LK (as well as LLK and PK [as a midtone]) make an amazingly
neutral/cool ink on Arches.  I've actually used HP PK/Gray for that
purpose.  These OEM grays are blended carbon-color inks, however.  So, the
100% carbon claim would have to be avoided.

The truth is, 7 different dilutions is overkill.  So, in my 7800 I use 5
Eboni-based inks and then have the MIS LLK, LK, and PK for my "sepia"
printing.  (But only 3 grays is really not enough for top quality.)

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]