Current State of the Art B+W Ink Sets for Epson 2200?

[sam_johnson5]

Hi, all. I have a Epson 2200 printer that has been languishing because I've

never been satisfied with the inksets I've tried when printing black and

white. My latest attempt was the Lyson Daylight Darkroom set which I was never

able to get right and found their software and support underwhelming. So what

is the state of the art today, and what would be the best source for profiles

for that set? Thanks in advance.

[Craig_Cooper11664875449]

This is probably the better place to ask: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/

[thirteenthumbs]

<a href=http://www.inksupply.com/bw_software.cfm> MIS B&W </a>. Worth a look.

[jonathan_walker]

The K3 inkset for the R2400 (and 3800) blows away the K7 inksets.

[jtk]

Very close comparison of many prints by many B&W photographers on various papers indicate MIS and Piezo inks do almost imperceptibly beat Epson's 0EM pigments from 2200...but 2400 doesn't seem to offer any visual advantage, except for Pearl surface (which I hate, but some love).

 

The trick for neutral (no tint at all) with 2200 has for a long time been to use QTR driver (cheap) with OEM pigments. QTR features virtual sliders for a continuous choice of tone, including excellent/easy dead neutral. When using a warm tone paper one may want a different ink tone than when using a cold tone paper, and QTR makes it easy (intuitive).

 

Epson pigments have only required two cleaning cycles in several years with my OEM 2200.

 

My personal plan is to replace my OEM 2200, when it ultimately gets cranky, with whatever improves upon 2400 or 3800. Might be the next Epson, might be Canon.

[frans_waterlander]

I use the QTR RIP as well with my 2200 and while there is a tremendous improvement, there is still a slight color cast. My next printing will use K3 inks.

[sam_johnson5]

Thanks, everyone. I've purchased the MIS inks and a cleaning set to purge out the old Lyson inks. Looks like the black head is clogged, to on to the next problem. They say Windex may do the trick. We'll see.