Printer for bw only.

[RayPA]

I've heard the same about EEM not being archival and turning yellow over time. I've been looking at photo rag papers (like Hahnemuehle).

...I am leery of using color inks to get B&W because different colors fade at different rates over time,...

inksupply offers some substitute inks for the Epson K3 inks. On their site they discuss printing b&w using the K3 inks, and they discuss how the non-carbon color ink in the K3 inkset fades faster. Of course they offer a solution. By substituting particular color cartridges with their carbon-based inks, you can improve the fade from 70 to 200 years. I always get a kick out of that. 🙂

I'll probably buy their substitute cartridges. 😱 😀



.

 

[faris]

Thank you. thank you for your responses. I am overwhelmed by the details I have got here. shall take me a while to digest it all.

In Riyadh the climate is hot dusty and dry and i have lost one epson printer
with clogged nozzles after a few weeks only. the servicing costs were too high and
so are the inks.

with this in mind any special recommendations.

Really appreciate the time you folks have given me .

 

[rich815]

I've heard the same about EEM not being archival and turning yellow over time. I've been looking at photo rag papers (like Hahnemuehle).



inksupply offers some substitute inks for the Epson K3 inks. On their site they discuss printing b&w using the K3 inks, and they discuss how the non-carbon color ink in the K3 inkset fades faster. Of course they offer a solution. By substituting particular color cartridges with their carbon-based inks, you can improve the fade from 70 to 200 years. I always get a kick out of that. 🙂

I'll probably buy their substitute cartridges. 😱 😀



.

MORE than you'll ever want to know about such inks and discussions along these lines can be found here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

Personally I use a 2200 and print Black-Only and get marvelous results. EEM does yellow, and quickly, sometimes within weeks or months. It is a great paper for proofing though as the results are not far off of my favorite but more expensive paper the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag.

Lately though I'm getting gorgeous rich tonality and deeper blacks by printing Black Only with Epson's Photo Black ink or MIS Pro Photo Black (from www.inksupply.com) and printing on Crane Museo Silver Rag.

 

[shadowfox]

I do the same, also with Scotch double-sided photo tape. I'm not sure of the archival properties of the tape, but it is specialized for photos.



.

Ray and Wray, do you guys put another matte or foam board on the back? or just let the back of the photo paper "naked"?

 

[wray]

I use another piece of acid free board on the back but foam core should work as well.

 

[mwooten]

...

Lately though I'm getting gorgeous rich tonality and deeper blacks by printing Black Only with Epson's Photo Black ink or MIS Pro Photo Black (from www.inksupply.com) and printing on Crane Museo Silver Rag.

I've been using the same paper wiht my c86/MIS black&grey setup, and I've been blown away. It is amazing how far inkjet printing has progressed in such a short amount of time.

 

[amateriat]

In Riyadh the climate is hot dusty and dry and i have lost one epson printer
with clogged nozzles after a few weeks only. the servicing costs were too high and
so are the inks.

with this in mind any special recommendations.

Those conditions pretty much spell out "anythng but Epson."

HP's and Canon's printers have replaceable print heads: in the case of most HP printers (my 8750 included), the print heads are built into the ink carts, so when you replace a cartridge, you replace the print heads. This alone will save you a good amount of grief.


- Barrett

 

[kaiyen]

I do all my matting myself. I use acid-free mat board 2-ply back, 4 ply front. I attach the image to the back mat using acid-free tape. I then hinge the front mat. I also museum cut so it's a bit higher than center in the frame.

Yes, the Epsons will clog in low humidity conditions. That is a big problem. You could remember to keep the heads soaked in purging fluid via the take-up pad. That would help. Shame, though - the results on many Epsons are just fantastic.

Ray - an alternative would be the Innova papers. the Cotton Smooth has the same coating, supposedly, as the Permajet Alpha which looks GORGEOUS with my setup.

Unfortunately, the UT2 set doesn't "stick" to the Crane Silver very well...

allan

 

[froyd]

EEM > Museo Silver Rag?

EEM > Museo Silver Rag?

Another great esources for anyone interested in doing BW on teh cheap and "on the simple" is Clayton Jones site: http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

Highly recommended reading for both lovers of the simpler approach to life, or lazy photographers (my case 😀 )

Personally I use a 2200 and print Black-Only and get marvelous results. EEM does yellow, and quickly, sometimes within weeks or months. It is a great paper for proofing though as the results are not far off of my favorite but more expensive paper the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag.

Lately though I'm getting gorgeous rich tonality and deeper blacks by printing Black Only with Epson's Photo Black ink or MIS Pro Photo Black (from www.inksupply.com) and printing on Crane Museo Silver Rag.

Rich, would EEM be an edequate proofing paper for Silver Rag?

 

[RayPA]

Ray and Wray, do you guys put another matte or foam board on the back? or just let the back of the photo paper "naked"?

I use pre-assembled glass-front frames and then add precut mattes. The frames come with a back, so I tape the print to the back of the matte, put the matte in the frame, put the back on the frame, seal it, and it's done. I could probably add some archival paper backing between the print and the frame back. This method (pre-assembled and precut) can get costly, so I'm always on the look out for sales.

🙂

@Allan, I have many bad memories surrounding my efforts to cut my own mattes. I could probably do it nowadays since I have more patience. I'll probably get back into it at some point. Thanks for the paper tip!

Good tips in this thread. @Rich I joined the Yahoo group.
.

 

[1948nikon]

Laser Serious Consideration

Laser Serious Consideration

I don't think laser printer was a serious recommendation. There was a smiley even in the subject title.

The "latest" in 3rd-part options is using the Epson R1800 and it's littler brother (not sure which one) and filling only...3 or 4 of the slots with some of the MIS UT inks. I haven't researched it a lot because I already have a UT2 setup with my 1280, but it's at inksupply.com.

The great thing is that you can switch which slot you put the inks in. I find that outstading. You can let one nozzle unclog with the purging fluid and just sit there while using another one.

allan

The laser printer was in fact a very serious consideration mainley in relation to cost.

The laser will always be cheaper to run than any inkjet you care to mention and entry level lasers will print at 600dpi and upto 1200dpi.

 

[rich815]

The laser printer was in fact a very serious consideration mainley in relation to cost.

The laser will always be cheaper to run than any inkjet you care to mention and entry level lasers will print at 600dpi and upto 1200dpi.

I was under the impression that a laser printer does not produces smooth enough tonal "steps" to be a serious contender for fine art B&W photo printing. Has anything changed I don't know about?

 

[amateriat]

I was under the impression that a laser printer does not produces smooth enough tonal "steps" to be a serious contender for fine art B&W photo printing. Has anything changed I don't know about?

No, nothing's changed. Your garden variety 1200dpi laser printer is fabulous for document printing (and far preferable to inkjets for this sort of output). But for photographic output? Fugettaboutit...clearly outclassed by even fair-to-middling inkjets, and simply shut out by better inkjets.

The only things with lasers that can hang with inkjets (and then some) for fine photographic prints are bigger and a lot pricier than a desktop printer. And they don't use toner. 😉


- Barrett