Results of New Epson 7600/9600 7-color printers vs piezography

I've heard a number of very strong claims made for the Cone quadtone

inkset that can be used with some of the older Epson printers. It

would appear that Epson is finally getting a bit more interested in

the B + W market with the introduction of their new line of 7-color

printers (7600/9600, etc.), which use an additional "light black"

(presumably Japanese for "gray") ink, supposedly to improve the tonal

quality of B + W prints. Anybody with any experience making B + W

prints with these new printers, esp versus the Cone quadtone inkset

and "piezography"?

 

Regards,

 

Nathan

Nathan,

 

I can't directly answer your question, as I have no experience with the Cone products. However, there is a review of the new 2200 printer at luminous-landscape.com that discusses this issue.

 

Thhere are several reviews on the site, dealing with various aspects of the printer, including black and white printing. The author of the initial review (Michael Reichmann) indicated that he has done away with his piezography printer in favor of the new inks in the 2200.

 

I believe the new larger printers are built around the same printer head and inks, so results should be similar.

 

The article can be found at:

 

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/Epson2200.shtml

 

and there is a link to other articles at the bottom. Also, go to the 'What's New' section to see all the articles on the 2200, as there has been great consternation toward Epson USA over the lack of inclusion of a program called the 'Gray Balancer' which provides powerful control over the appearence of black and white prints.

 

---Michael

Nathan, I own one of the new Epson 7600 printers and have made approximately 300 linear feet of prints with it so far. Here are my thoughts.

 

First, the 7600 is fantastically sharp-- noticeably sharper than any previous inkjet printer (including all the Epsons). For small prints it is really amazing-- it will print a line the width of a human hair. For larger prints I doubt the difference would be noticable between the 7600 and a previous Epson such as the 7000, because then the limitation is the sharpness of the file, not the sharpness of the printer.

 

The B&W printing that can be done on the 7600 is also pretty amazing. The process uses all the inks, so the print can be toned in whatever color you want, however subtle. And of course, split toning and other effects are easy to achieve. With a good profile (such as those that are just about to be made available for free on Epson's site), the gray balance is perfect through the entire tonal scale.

 

In terms of direct comparisons, i haven't done a side-by-side, but i have seen incredibly beautiful B&W prints from both processes. Like the quadtone system, the 7600 can produce prints that have NO visible dot pattern, even in the places you'd expect dots such as white clouds. The only problem i've seen with the 7600 is that when printing on glossy papers, there is a yellowish reflective sheen on the print that is quite unattractive when viewed in the wrong light. The 7600 lays down the yellow ink last, and so it sits on the surface of glossy prints. In oblique reflected light, you can see what looks like an oily yellow sheen on the print. This doesn't happen at all on watercolor papers-- prints made on those papers look just like quadtone prints.

 

~cj

The reports on the new Epson 2200/7600/9600 printers extremely intriguing, and I am contemplating trading in my 1280-based hextone system in for a 2200. The thought of one printer that can do both color and B&W using archival inks without changing cartridges is very tempting! One concern is fade resistance. Although Paul Rourke's initial 100-hour fade-resistance results seem incouraging (see the Yahoo B&W Digital Print board), it's apparently an open question whether in longer-term tests all the different color dyes will fade evenly (if not, you'd get a color shift in your B&W prints over time as, say the yellow, faded faster, since all colors are used in B&W prints). I think I've seen a post from Paul Rourke saying that the results of his 300-hour tests should be available in a couple of days.

Nathan,

 

I can answer your question - or at least give you my subjective impressions, as I own both a 7600 and a 7000 driven by the Cone Piezo Pro system.

 

The 7000, driven by Piezography Pro software and using the original "sundance" inks produces excellent, continuous tone B&W prints. There are no visible dots. Under a loup, you might sometimes see a fine check pattern that reflects the unique method of laying down ink.

 

The 7000 is capable of superb B&W results, but there are some issues with the current ink/software combination that you need to consider (I have had some banding since changing to the latest Piezotone inks, for example). Further, there is some uncertaintly over the future of the current Piezo Pro software.

 

On to the 7600. I agree with the comments generally made about this printer. Quite simply, it is superb. For B&W work, a print made using the Epson driver can look a little greenish and have blocked shadows. Used this way, it is in my view no match for a properly working 7000 with Piezo Pro where B&W is concerned.

 

But...add in ImagePrint 5 to the mix, and you have a whole new ball game.

 

My 7600 is run by the ImagePrint 5 RIP from Colorbyte. This uses proprietory profiling software to produce grey profiles specifically to print B&W through the 7600 and 9600 printers. In addition to this, ImagePrint has a "Tint Picker" to allow subtle toning to allow you to print a cool or warm print.

 

I have been experimenting with the grey profiles and tint picker, and the results look sensational (even with the wrong profile for my preferred paper - Colorbyte are fixing that right now). You get gallery quality prints, with no crossover effects and *no* metamerism, and excellent shadow detail. Grey means grey.

 

What this means is that if you have a 7600 0r 9600, you may not need to buy another printer to get outstanding B&W prints. You just need the right driver.

 

Is the 7600 / ImagePrint combination as good as Piezo Pro? At the moment, I am inclined to say yes, with the added benefit of the tint picker. But to be fair I need to experiment a bit more.

 

If you have a 7600, it is a no brainer to order the free demo version of ImagePrint and to try out it's B&W output for yourself.

 

Quentin

 

PS If you check the Cone Inkjetmall site (www.inkjetmall.com) you'll see the ImagePrint RIP is now sold by them. I think that tells you a lot.

I do not yet own a photo printer but this thread has gotten me interested in buying one. After having read the above comments I think the new EPSON 2200 would be most appropriate for me. Just a couple of questions that I hope the participants on this thread would be able to answer:

 

Would it be possible for me to buy ImagePrint5 adapted for this printer? When I looked it up at the Cone Inkjetmall site, the programme was not offered for this machine.

 

Would it be necessary for me to buy it, considering the fact that the European version of the printer (the 2200) is shipped together with the GRAY BALANCER programme? The latter is supposed to help me achieve a perfect balancing of the printer so as to obtain perfectly neutral colors for black and white printing, a function that I would need.

 

Thankful for any comments you may be able to contribute.

Emile,

 

There is desktop version of ImagePrint for the 2200. I think it costs around $495 or something. Speak to John Pannozzo at Colorbyte for more information.

 

I have not tried the Grey balancer, and it sits idly on my desk. One advantage for B&W that the ImagePrint RIP has is that it does not use yellow ink, said to be the cause of metamerism. It also has other advantages, like better shadow detail.

 

Get hold of a trial copy to see if it suits you. Whether you need it or not may depend upon how seriously you take B&W printing.