Re: black and white printer

>Thanks. Can you suggest a printer which uses the quadtone inks? I've looked
>at Cone's website and looked at the info on his inks.

The Epson 1160 seems to be the large format affordable printer of
choice for quadtone inks. I got a refurbished one for $154 + $37
shipping from ubid.com. They have them listed all the time; if you
are patient, you may find one for $135-145. I am setting it up for
color bulk archival inks (Generations from MediaStreet).

I bought an 860 printer (small format, otherwise like the 1160) for
$129 with free shipping from outpost.com. Epson has a $50 rebate
through 3/31/01 -- so net cost of $79. This one has the quad inks.

For both the 860 and 1160, I am using the continuous ink system from
MIS Associates. $68 for the hardware (bottles, tubing, etc.) and $52
four 4-oz bottles of quadtone inks (or $60 for the MediaStreet
color inks. By comparison, Jon Cone's Piezography quad inks are $260
for 4x4 bottles..

I have left my 750 as is for use with Epson ink cartridges. The
archival pigment-based color inks are not as vibrant as the dye-based
original inks. And I use the 750 for color glossy prints, because .
. .

The only other caveat is that archival color or quad inks do not
print well on glossy papers. Epson Archival Matte paper works well.
Cone's software ($295) seems reasonable if you use lots of papers,
because he supplies many profiles. (If you choose to afford his
inks). I am settling on a few papers.

Hope that helps -- and that not too many are bothered by the
off-topic discussion.

Tom

>----- Original Message -----
> > >I have been printing my paper negatives via photoshop and an Epson 1270.
>I
> > >conclude that it is truly impossible to get an reliably adequate B&W
>print
> > >out of the 1270. I use duotone instead, which usually is aceptable, but
>I'd
> > >really like any reports of successful experience in ink jet printing of
>B&W
> > >images.
> >
> >

Tom Harvey's original reply:

> > The short answer is that you cannot get consistently acceptable B&W
> > results with color inkjet printers. I've tried Epson 750, 860, and
> > 1160 printers. I have been able to get pleasing prints some of the
> > time -- as long as I keep the print in one type of light and never
> > compare it side-by-side with other prints. What looks good in one
> > setting seems too magenta or green in other settings. The only real
> > solution is quadtone inks, though finding an inkset that does not
> > print slightly warm is a challenge.
Received on Fri Mar 2 10:49:50 2001