Digital BW, The Print

drd,


>I am in the process of buying a printer for dedicated B&W printing.

You might want to take a look at some of the information accessible from my
index at http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/index.htm.

>I was leaning toward the epson 1280 ($299 after rebate), but would 
>consider the epson 2200 if it is noticeably better. 

For most printing using the Epson driver there is no visual difference.  For
a few papers the 2200's ability to increase the ink load is useful.  The
ones that come to mind are Epson Glossy Photo Paper (still the only glossy
paper that is artifact free (but most, including me, prefer the Costco
paper), and Arches Hot Press (uncoated).

If you wanted to try one of the popular printing utilities like IJC or QTR,
I'd recommend the 2200. 

>... Where do i start in terms of buying inks (piezography vs. MIS)

Both companies have their fans on this list.  I see you know where their
websites are.

> software,

Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard image editor.  For many of the MIS
workflows image adjustment curves are used that require Photoshop or Picture
Window.  The later is an economical image editor sold by Digital Light and
Color at http://www.dl-c.com/Temp/.  While they push the 16 bit Pro version,
one could get started with the $49 standard version.  It's hidden on their
webpage somewhere.

> setup?

Many like continuous flow systems.  I don't.  The easy-refill 2200 carts are
great, and the 1280 will soon be supported with an equally good sponge-less,
easy to fill and re-fill cart that I'm beta testing now.  These with bulk
inks (at least MIS) reduce your ink costs to the point where they are almost
irrelevant.

>... am unsure the best way to proceed. I want to print beutiful 
>B&W prints and not have to worry about color casts of using color inks ...

You could even get your feet wet with a used 2000P or 1270 and a monotone
inkset.  These are very easy to use.  With one of these and Picture Window
you could be printing with a very small initial investment.

With respect to papers, the ones I've listed in my Readme files usually have
some comments regarding what works best.

The rewards are worth the hassle of the learning curve.  I think there is no
better way to learn this than to just jump in -- and then follow the posts
of interest on this forum.

Happy printing,

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com