Black-only printing with the Epson 1400

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Today I did my first test of black-only printing on the Epson 1400. This printer would seem ideal for this kind of work, given its very fine 1.5-picoliter dots and low price.

I downloaded a copy of QuadTone RIP (and I should add that, after a bit more testing, I am probably going to buy it--my results were excellent after five minutes of tweaking), and opened up the curve menu...the program had correctly detected my printer, and I chose the black-only curve for it.

I printed two copies of a favorite B&W photo of mine, taken on Delta 100, one printed out of Lightroom, the other exported from Lightroom to a tiff, and printed with QTR. The Lightroom print is more neutral, as it used some of the color inks as well as black; the black-only one is warmer (and in terms of color, not really to my taste). But the detail on the black-only one is superior. The grain is clearer, there is a bit less contrast and a bit more shadow detail. The grain on the lightroom print is smeary; on the black-only print it is sharp. I'm eager to try this with high-resolution digital photos next...what I'm seeing here is the individual dots of ink. They are very, very tiny, but the overall effect is extremely organic and pleasing to me. The multi-ink print is clearly designed to elide the dots of ink, for an overall smoother result, but I don't like it quite as much.

Anyway, I am nearly out of color ink, having printed a zillion test prints and 12 13x19" prints for an upcoming show of mine. So when it's time to replace the ink carts, I'm going to get the MIS UT-14 black and white set, which includes a 100% carbon archival black ink cartridge, and I will try doing black only with that. If I eventually find BO superior to the 6-ink prints, I'll probably end up getting a continuous feed cartridge for that position. So far I'm really enthusiastic.

Sorry i don't have any image comparisons to post--I don't have a flatbed scanner!

 

[back alley]

they are for sale here at $340. cdn., that seems reasonable.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I use 3 position carbon only inks for my R1800 and am very pleased with the results. In fact, I'm now making the first black and white prints from inkjet that I feel good enough about to sell (I know other printers have been able to make great bw prints for some time, but this is a first for me.)
I'm not sure if the 1400 uses the same ink set or not, but the carbon inks do seem to be the way to go.

 

[f16sunshine]

Please keep us posted. I'm curious how those archival sets go.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Please keep us posted. I'm curious how those archival sets go.

It'll be a few weeks probably before I get my hands on them, but I'll definitely report!

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

OK, here are a couple of samples. I scanned them as grayscale to eliminate the color differences--the apparent deeper blacks of the conventional print are largely because, Lightroom seems to print everything darker than what I see on the screen. The black only print is closer to the real thing. This is not a great scanner (it's the all-in-one flatbed in my wife's office) but you get the idea...the grain is finer and clearer, to my eye, on the black only print, and I have more control. In any event, given that black-only just uses one ink, and they are both very acceptable prints, I think I will end up getting a continuous-feed system for the black cartridge and never buying those tiny 4-oz. carts again.

Top one is black only, bottom one is the conventional six-ink print. This bird is perhaps 2.5 inches wide on an 8x10 print.