Digital BW, The Print

You can purchase Epson premium semimatte in smaller sheet sizes as  
well, if you don't want to bother with cutting down large sheets or  
rolls:
http://www.eximvaios.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=2_252_382

On Feb 4, 2006, at 10:18 PM, rgoldman2 wrote:

> Ginny, you seem to be getting good advice regarding your questions. An
> issue that you will have to address, at least initially, is whether
> you want to start printing on cotton rag papers using the Epson Matte
> Black ink (the papers and inks that Clayton and many other use) or
> whether you will start with glossier papers, ranging from satin or
> pearl surfaced to true gloss. In which case you will be printing with
> the Photo Black Ink. All the other inks in the system are compatible
> with either type of paper, but the cotton rag matte prints definitely
> need Matte Black Ink (Mk) and the other papers need Photo Black (Pk).
> The 2400 prints beautifully on the rag papers using the Advanced Black
> and White (ABW) feature of the Epson driver. My impression is that
> these matte prints are slightly better than what could be achieved on
> the old 2200. Except that the 2200 need a third-party rip to achieve
> it. The greater improvement facilitated with the 2400 is in the
> ability to print on the satin to true glossy papers, which the 2200
> could not do well even with a third party rip. Now that can be done
> beautifully on the 2400 using the Photo Black Ink in the K3 set up and
> the ABW feature of the Epson driver. I.E. right out of the box. I love
> the look of the rag papers, but I also love the deep blacks I can
> print on the satin papers (Epson Premium Semi Matte in my case). What
> keeps me from going back to the rag printing currently is the cost of
> switching from the Pk to the Mk ink. It is not prohibitive but neither
> is it trivial. That is why you need to make a choice on how to get
> started. If you are interested in glossy, then I would start with
> something that is semi-matte or satin because the more glossy the
> paper the higher the probability that even with the 2400 you will run
> into issues such as gloss differential. The Premium Semi Matte is a
> beautiful paper, but it is made in sheets of 17 x 22. So you will have
> to cut them to a size that works in the 2400 and use the residual for
> test strips. Clayton has offered to sell, at a very reasonable price,
> small prints on different rag papers. Well worth the price in my view.
> You can see how the various papers look with the Mk ink. Be sure to
> look a Epson VFA (velvet fine art). If you want to see a small print
> made on Epson Premium Semi Matte using the Pk ink, I will be happy to
> send you one (free of charge). Contact me at my email address about  
> that.