Digital BW, The Print

I am in the process of buying a printer for dedicated B&W printing. 
I was leaning toward the epson 1280 ($299 after rebate), but would 
consider the epson 2200 if it is noticeably better. I want a wide 
format printer, so i have eliminated the c86 as an option.

My qeustion is this: Where do i start in terms of buying inks 
(piezography vs. MIS), software, setup? I am no professional, but i 
print out 10-20 8x10 and 11x14 prints weekly. I have read the info 
on the MIS website and piezography site, and 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 w/ the B&W printing 
process. I need some hand holding here as i need a direction and a 
plan (ie inks, printer suggestions, workflow, curves, profiles, the 
whole 9 yards).

Anyone willing to share thier recomendations would be greatly 
appreciated. Thanks in advance

drd

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

For Paul Roark:
    Where does one get these "easy-refill 2200 carts" that you mention?  Thanks.
Donald

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

Hello Drd,

> My qeustion is this: Where do i start in terms of buying inks 
> (piezography vs. MIS), software, setup? I am no professional, but i 
> print out 10-20 8x10 and 11x14 prints weekly. I have read the info 
> on the MIS website and piezography site, and 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 w/ the B&W printing 
> process. I need some hand holding here as i need a direction and a 
> plan (ie inks, printer suggestions, workflow, curves, profiles, the 
> whole 9 yards).
> 
> Anyone willing to share thier recomendations would be greatly 
> appreciated. Thanks in advance

There are so many options that it's hard to know where to begin. 
Unfortunately, many of them require a considerable investment and/or
committment to a specific setup.  So I always recommend the Black Only
(BO) technique as a good and easy way to get started with a minimum of
frustration and expense.  There is information about it at the web
site below, along with other general info about inks, printers, paper
and other things.  

Using BO will get you started right away with a minimum of fuss -
there's a lot of basic stuff to learn in the beginning. While you're
doing this and gaining experience you can be reading and forum
watching to learn about what other things are available.  Any time you
are ready you can try other things and you won't have committed to
something you'll later wish you hadn't.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

Donald,

MIS has the easy-refill 2200 carts.  See
http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/epsonempty.html.


This is what the cart looks like and the instructions:
http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/c82refill.html


Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 
______________________________

-----Original Message-----
From: dschiemann [mailto:DSCHIEMANN@...] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 2:43 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Getting started with digital BW printing


For Paul Roark:
    Where does one get these "easy-refill 2200 carts" that you mention?
Thanks.
Donald

Interestingly, the refill instructions on the MIS web site
say:

    It will take about an hour for ink to be fully absorbed 
    by sponge in front half. Ink will gradually saturate the 
    sponge. Keep cart in installed position during first hour. 
    Then plug the fill hole, AIR TIGHT, with the rubber plug 
    provided. Leave the existing vent hole open.

I always replace the plug immediately after filling the carts, 
then store them full and ready to go (alternating two sets.)

Does this refill-wait-then-plug rule only apply to filling
a dry cart? I've never seen any issue with plugging right 
away.

-David

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:

> Donald,
> 
> MIS has the easy-refill 2200 carts.  See
> http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/epsonempty.html.
> 
> 
> This is what the cart looks like and the instructions:
> http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/c82refill.html
> 
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com