Digital BW, The Print

Johnny,

I have been making some wonderful B&W prints with 3PK in the R1800 on Epson Exhibition Fiber paper.  But you need to leave the color inks in the printer to get a neutral tone.  The PK inks are warm without cooling them down a bit.

You could use MIS inks, but I am using all OEM inks.  I have too many problems with clogging, and lost time dealing with the clogs.  The 3K printing process isn't something I do every day and I did have clogging problems with third party inks that I do not have with Epson inks.

I use modified OEM Photo Black ink cartridges in all three slots.  I remove the chips on the cartridges that go into the MK and GO slots and replace them with reset chips from spent MK and GO cartridges.  I also cut the indexing pins off the cartridges, and label these cartridges as being modified to fit these slots.

You can do the same for 3MK printing as well, and change from glossy papers to matte and back again.  The ink supply in the head is small enough that no extra purging is necessary.  It is purged by the cartridge change cycle.

I have used this process with Ilford's Peril, but like the Epson paper better.  The ilford is a good choice if you would want a warmer print though.  It looks very nice for warm B&W portraits.

Check the old postings for more details about my process.  It works well with a very dark dMax.  I consider these prints every bit as good, if not better, as the ones I was making in the darkroom.

Ben




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "johnny_kurtz" <johnny@...> wrote:
>
> Hello,
> 
> I have read through all of Paul Roarks pages and PDF's about B&W and the R1800, and I have a couple questions about this.
> 
> With the "3-MK" process for printing with the R1800 on matte paper somewhat solidified, could I for ILFORD GALLERIE SMOOTH PEARL paper printing use a "3-PK" setup filling all three with the MIS R1800 Photo Black?
> 
> I am curious because I have had great results for years with my Epson 1280-S and the UT2 set and ILFORD GALLERIE SMOOTH PEARL, but now my 1280 is dying and would like my R1800 to do both color and B&W for now.
> 
> If the "3-PK" could work, would I be able to run a  "3-PK" & "3-MK" in the R1800 simultaneously with a "glop" to make dual purpose B&W R1800? I do not really need a color printer.
> 
> Any insight will be of great help.
> 
> -- 
> Cheers,
> Johnny
>