How to make B&W digital prints without color hues?

You may want to check out Paul Roark's website http://home1.gte.net/res0a2zt/photos.html and the Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/. I am currently using an Epson C86 dedicated to B&W with MIS pre-filled cartridges. I like the results a lot, although I am still learning.

The easiest way to avoid color hues is to not use the color inks and just print with the black ink. Some of us believe that way makes better b&w prints than quadtones. I've used Piezo, MIS FSN, UT, & UT2 MIS inks over the last several years. I still prefer the look of MIS Eboni, printed Black Only, over any of them.

Many think "Jeez, this is so simple that it can't work well. I need some expensive complicated solution." That's your call.

See Clayton Jones excellent series of articles at: http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm for a detailed explanation.

Brad,

You're in luck. You have an Epson 2200. You can make beautifull b&w prints with this printer and the Ultrachrome inkset. You just need one thing: QTR (Quadtone RIP) from Roy Harrington. Try before you buy. $50.00 if you like it.

And while you're are it, join the QTR forum on yahoo. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QuadtoneRIP/

Another place to learn about QTR is on this list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/

Roy Harrington: http://harrington.com/QuadToneRIP.html

You can download QTR today!

The real solution cost money but nothing's better. Get the ImagePrint RIP. No only will you get dead nuts neutral prints but you'll get superior dither and color prints. You can tone, split tone and combine color and B&W. You'll also get prints that are virtually metamerism free (meaning they look neutral under all illuminants).

The other option, if you stick with one or two papers, is to get your printer custom profiled. I have used Dry Creek Photo (website is the obvious one), and, while the turn-around time took a while, I can now print dead neutral B&W prints. One profile (single type of paper) runs $50. Metamerism under light sources other than that for which the profile is calibrated for is minimized if you choose to print on matte papers.

Forgot to mention: the custom profile allows you to print with the standard Epson color inks...you don't have to dedicate a printer to B&W only with a quadtone inkset.

I use the ImagePrint 6 RIP, and it's pretty good. However, I recently went back to the darkroom to make some fiber-based prints, and comparing them to the digital prints was a wake-up call. I was reminded that, while it's come a long way, digital B&W is still young in its development.

IJC/OPM from Bowhaus is another option for B&W printing using colour inks in the 2200, similar to QTR and ImagePrint, though it lacks the colour printing capability of ImagePrint. I find that the density range and smooth tonality of prints produced by the 2200 using IJC/OPM can rival conventional fibre-based printing.

Best, Helen

"dead nuts"?