ULTRA TONE 7 (“UT7”) for 7600 –
INFORMATION AND SETTINGS
By
(9-6-07)
[Caveat: As of 10-06, I stopped using this inkset and
stopped recommending this or any “blended” B&W inkset for use in large
format printers without this caveat. I’ve
found large format printers suffer from unacceptable tone shifts with blended
inksets when they are left unused for much more than a week. If one uses the printer regularly or uses an
auto-print software program such at MIS provides at http://www.inksupply.com/cobra.cfm#ap
then this is not a problem.
Additionally, tone shifts are not a serious problem with most desktop
printers where the cartridges are constantly agitated. However, blended inksets that have inks
composed of more than one type of pigment mixed together have tended to have
tone shifts between printing sessions where such sessions are separated by more
than a week. The does not appear to be
ink separation in the carts, but rather in the tubes that connect the cars to
the head. Because I do not use my large
format printers continuously, I found this problem too much of a nuisance to
deal with. As such, I have moved to a
non-blended approach in my 7500 that uses just the standard black and gray
inks, with LC and LM for tone control.
I believe this type of approach will also work well with the 7600 and
9600. This non-blended approach requires
a rip and is very slightly less smooth, but it’s much more practical for
me. It also give me full Lab a and b control within the neutral to carbon range. For more information on what I call the “4K+”
approach I am now using in my 7500, see https://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/4K+.pdf
]
The UT7 Inkset
UT7
is a blended, pigment-based, variable-tone black and white inkset for Epson
UltraChrome printers. All inks in the
UT7 inkset are predominantly carbon, with the C and LC positions being pure
carbon. The other positions are “toned”
with very lightfast color pigments. No
dyes are used.
UT7
can be purchased from MIS Associates.
See
http://www.inksupply.com/bw/ut7_7600
With
MIS Eboni matte black ink, the system can print on both matte and glossy papers
without having to change the black inks.
The curves that do this simply generate the black with the 2 dark gray
inks. The dmax often is better than when
a Photo black ink is used.
This inkset supports 2 basic Epson
driver workflows for B&W printing, and is also supported by various
RIPs. With the Epson driver any
application, including page-layout programs and of course Photoshop, can be
used to print with tones (hues) from neutral to medium warm on matte paper just
by using the standard Epson print driver with mostly default settings and a
grayscale file. See section 2 below.
With Photoshop and Picture Window (www.dl-c.com) the use of image adjustment
curves gives more control, including print tones that range from dark sepia to
very cold on either matte or glossy paper.
With this approach the print is controlled by readily-available and
easily-modifiable curves. See section 3,
below.
Note that the matte paper dmax with the
7600 (like the 4000) and the Epson driver is less than with most desktop
printers and older large format printers.
While the MIS Eboni matte black used in the UT7 produces a better dmax
than the OEM UC MK, it is still a bit low.
Typically this is about a 0.05 density unit drop compared to older Epson
printers. The lowest dmax I will
generally accept is 1.60. All of the
matte papers listed below can exceed this except for Epson UltraSmooth &
PremierArt Hot Press. These papers
(which are generally the same) are listed only because they other special
features that offset the slightly low dmax.
The matte papers listed are the only ones I’ve tested that can meet my
minimum 1.6 dmax.
The glossy paper dmax with the 7600,
Epson driver, and UT7 is excellent.
1. INK POSITIONS
The UT7 inkset uses predominantly
carbon pigments and no dyes. The
pigments are similar to those used in the UT2 inkset (for the 1280 and 1290)
and UT1 inkset (for many printers including the 7500), but the mixes and
positions of the inks vary among these inksets.
Ink positions:
Black (K) = Eboni matte black (carbon).
Light Black (LK) = A light black that
has been neutralized with blue pigments.
Cyan = Dark, un-toned, warm carbon
pigment.
Light Cyan = Light, un-toned carbon.
Magenta = Carbon pigments toned cool
with blue pigments.
Light Magenta = Light, cool-toned
carbon.
Yellow position = (1) Sepia-toned carbon is the default
ink.
(2)
Light carbon (LC) is more lightfast for those who do not use sepia.
This
results in a cooler range when no curves are used.
For
example, Enhanced Matte will print neutral with all
sliders at 0.
(3) Gloss Optimizer (Glop) for bronzing-free
glossy prints.
The
best gloss papers will be virtually bronze-free. The worst will
not benefit significantly.
The slider print range on matte paper
is a bit cooler.
(4) For the ultimate in smooth highlights,
UT-FS-Y can be put here.
Special
curves are needed to take advantage of this.
Most
people with most papers will not see any difference.
Typically
when people see some dots it is due to printing with
“High
Speed” checked.
(5) This is the most suitable position for custom
inks.
_____________________________________________________________
2. GRAYSCALE, MATTE
PRINTING FROM ANY APPLICATION; SLIDER CONTROLS
This Readme file assumes
that Eboni matte black is installed in the printer. However, the driver alone can also print
glossy paper if Photo black ink is installed.
Recommended Settings
"Media Type” – “Enhanced Matte Paper”
unless otherwise stated in the individual paper settings sections.
“Print Quality” – 1440 with "High
Speed" not checked.
“Color Management”
-
Color Controls checked,
Mode – Automatic.
SLIDER SETTINGS FOR SOME POPULAR PAPERS
Slider Settings vary and are listed by
paper.
With sliders in the ”0” or neutral position, the print will be slightly warm
on Epson Enhanced Matte with the default sepia toner in the yellow
position. It will be neutral with a
second light carbon (UT7-LC) in the Y position.
Adding "Magenta" (the
cool ink) by moving the Magenta slider to the right cools the print,
removing magenta warms the print. Adding
"Cyan" (the warm, pure carbon
gray ink) or "Yellow"
(sepia tone) warms the print.
The recommended starting
points, below, are not necessarily the only or even best settings to achieve
the indicated tone and the best print for every printer. Experiment with the slider settings to get
the desired results. Similar settings
will probably work for a number of matte papers. Large moves of the sliders may negatively
affect the print quality.
Note
that the "neutral" tone of this inkset is often referred to as
"selenium" tone because it matches the tone of a
lightly-selenium-toned silver print.
Epson Enhance Matte ("EEM")
(aka “Archival Matte”)
This non-archival (100
year dark storage) paper sets the standard for smooth matte display
prints. The tones listed are with sepia
installed.
Neutral: Cyan -10, Magenta +5, Brightness +5;
Warm: C +5. M -5, Y +25, to
C +15, M -10, Yellow +25, Contrast +5.
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag
Photo Rag has the best
dmax of matte papers. To avoid “flaking”
of the surface (small flakes of coating pop off and leave a white spots or
holes in the image) I always use air to blow off the flakes. Some wipe or brush the surface, but this
could leave marks. Spraying with Lascaux
Fixativ will help protect the sensitive image surface. The paper may be prone to yellowing by
airborne pollutants.
Neutral:
C -20, M +10,
Warm:
C +7, M -7, Y +25, Brightness -4.
PermaJet Alpha, Omega & Delta
PermaJet’s new “Image
Life” line of papers have similar coatings but differing
amounts of brighteners. None of them
flake and all have good dmaxs. Alpha has no optical brighteners and a
creamy-toned color. Other PermaJet
papers Delta (neutral white) and Omega (just a bit of brightener) print cooler. The tones achieved will depend on the paper
used.
Cooler:
C -20, M +10,
Warmer:
C +7, M -7, Y +25, Brightness -4.
Innova
Innova has a full line of
papers with various surfaces. They all
seem to have the same coating. None of
them appear to flake, and all have good dmaxs. The tones achieved will depend on the paper
used.
Cooler:
C -20, M +10,
Warmer:
C +7, M -7, Y +25, Brightness -4.
Epson UltraSmooth & PremierArt
Fine Art Hot Press
These papers are all
essentially the same. In addition to not
flaking, they may have the most abrasion-resistant surface. They have no optical brighteners but are
still relatively bright. The dmax for
these papers is modest.
Neutral: Cyan -15, Magenta +7;
Warm: C +5, M -5, Y +25, Contrast +3.
The above samples of
slider settings should be close to what works on most matte papers.
______________________________________________
3. PHOTOSHOP CURVES FOR
GREATER TONE CONTOL
Controlling the print
tones with image adjustment curves gives more control than the sliders and has
some other advantages for experienced printers.
Which curve is applied determines the mix of inks and thus the tone of
the print.
Basic Workflow & Settings
For this approach the
final grayscale file must first be changed to an RGB color image for
printing. (Save the final grayscale file
before doing this.) In Photoshop, set
the RGB working space to AdobeRGB(1998).
(Edit, Color settings – I set the top setting to
Photoshop 5 Defaults and then change RGB working space to Adobe RGB (1998).)
I recommend working in 16
bit mode. Among other things, it is best
to have the RGB file in 16 bit mode before the tone curve is applied,
especially for the carbon and sepia curves.
This is true even if the grayscale file was an 8 bit file. Once the curve is applied the file can be
converted back to 8 bit per channel with no decrease in print quality.
In general, in the driver
the following settings are used:
Source Space -- Document: Adobe RGB (1998)
Print Space -- Profile: Same as Source
Media Type – "Enhanced Matte Paper"
unless otherwise stated.
Print Quality – 1440, High Speed
un-checked.
Color Management – “No Color Adjustment”
is used. Because this setting is used,
the curves should work equally well with both Windows and Mac computers.
Print Tone Curves
The print tone curves are
available from MIS or from my web page at https://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/UT7-7600-curves.html
. (If you download from my page, be sure
to note the instruction concerning extensions.)
“Neutral” tone curves
generally result in prints having CMY readings such that C = Y, and M is
elevated 0.01 density unit. This gives
the slight “selenium” tone.
In general, I put points
on the curves that correspond with the steps on the 21-step test files that are
available from this website and elsewhere.
The Red curve (which controls the cyan-position, warm carbon ink) and
the Green curve (which controls the magenta-position, cool ink) often have only
3 internal points on them from 75% up to 0%.
This allows users to easily change the tones of the highlights and
midtones by making off-setting moves of the respective points of these 2 curves. This makes it easy to achieve a split-tone
between highlights and midtones.
From 75% down more points
are often needed. With these also,
offsetting moves of the Red and Green curves can be effective in changing the
tones.
For some papers I have
made Cool and Medium Warm curves. Comparing
these curves with the neutral versions indicates the relative tone changes that
one can get from offsetting moves of the curves.
The "carbon"
tone curves print warm, about half way to a sepia tone. Some people compare its visual impact to the
classical platinum print. The curves
essentially eliminate all the color pigments and print with only carbon. This gives the most lightfast print possible,
because the carbon pigments are more stable than the color pigments. "Carbon on cotton" (acid-free &
buffered paper) is, in my view, a classic B&W medium.
MATTE PAPERS
I generally make curves
that give a neutral tone (spectrophotometer cyan density = yellow density,
magenta is 0.01 unit higher), cool (0.03 units), Meduim
Warm (0.03 units warmer than neutral), carbon (pure carbon pigments are
typically about 0.10 units warmer than neutral), and sepia (typically 0.25
units warmer than neutral at 50% density).
The following curves have
been made:
Epson Enhanced Matte:
(These curves will probably work well with many matte
papers.)
UT7-7600-EEM-Cool
UT7-7600-EEM-Neutral
UT7-7600-EEM-MedWarm
UT7-7600-EEM-Carbon
UT7-7600-EEM-Sepia
PhotoRag
UT7-7600-PhotoRag-Cool
UT7-7600-PhotoRag-Neutral
UT7-7600-PhotoRag-MedWarm
UT7-7600-PhotoRag-Carbon
UT7-7600-PhotoRag-Sepia
Alpha & Innova papers
(These curves print well on PermaJet Alpha, Delpa
& Omega, and
on most Innova papers. The tone will
vary with specific paper. The curves
were made on Alpha.)
UT7-7600-Alpha-Innova-Cool
UT7-7600-Alpha-Innova-Neutral
UT7-7600-Alpha-Innova-MedWarm
UT7-7600-Alpha-Innova-Warm
UT7-7600-Alpha-Innova-Carbon
UT7-7600-Alpha-Innova-Sepia
GLOSSY PAPERS – With Eboni Ink Installed in the printer
The UT7 inkset allows printing
on glossy papers even when Eboni black ink is installed in the printer. The black is generated by using both the dark
warm and cool inks together. All of the
curves below are written with the assumption that this matte black ink is in
the printer.
I generally make curves
for the same tones as listed for the matte papers.
The following papers are
now supported:
Epson Premium Semigloss,
Glossy and Luster Photo Papers,
Media Type:
"Enhanced Matte Paper."
Epson Premium Semigloss,
as well as the other Epson Premium papers, are the
only glossy papers that Wilhelm Research has rated as having dark storage lives
of over 200 years. This, combined with
excellent fade resistance ratings make these papers the top choice for archival
glossy ("RC" or "barrier" paper) prints. Among these papers, the Premium Semigloss, in
my opinion, gives the best image, especially when sprayed with an appropriate
protective lacquer or fixative.
As with most glossy
papers when printed with pigments, these papers exhibit “bronzing” that
distracts from the image. The print
surface is also very sensitive to abrasion and fingerprints. I recommend three light sprays with
PremierArt Print Shield (http://www.premierimagingproducts.com/)
to reduce the bronzing and protect the surface.
Lyson Print Guard appears to be the same product.
Encapsulating carbon
pigments with PremierArt on the front and a “barrier” paper like the Epson
Premier Semigloss behind the pigments may be an excellent way to make a more
durable, archival print. Air pollution,
humidity, and oxidation are primary factors in fading and damaging photos. These air-borne problems can enter the paper
through either the front or back. A
sprayed barrier paper may be an efficient way to protect the image. While framing under glass gives even more
protection, the sprayed glossy print is tough enough to even be cleaned with a
damp paper towel.
The following paper will
be supported:
Epson Premium Semimatte
This paper, like the
other Epson Premium papers, has been rated at more than 200 years by Wilhelm
Research. This is the “glossy” paper I
use for large display prints. It has low
bronzing, a very nice finish, and a surprisingly good price.
Ilford Galerie Smooth
Pearl & Glossy papers
Media Type:
"Enhanced Matte Paper."
Many like the
PremierArt Print Shield
or Lyson print guard/shield spray largely eliminates the “bronzing."
Costco Kirkland Signature
Pro Glossy Inkjet Paper
Use
the Ilford curves, above. With those
curves it prints slightly cooler and lighter.
Increasing the Color Density, in the Ink Configuration
part of the driver, gives a better
dmax and also darkens the image
up to about +12.
This paper has a buffered, acid-free interior paper like
the Epson Premium papers.
It also has a very low bronzing. Overall, it is an unbeatable bargain, but
only
available in letter size. Non-members can buy from Costco on line. See
4. Matching the Monitor
to the Print, or Vice Versa
Monitors typically
compress the deep shadow values of an image.
That is, the typical monitor, profiled either
manually with Adobe Gamma or more accurately with, for example, Spyder2Pro,
will show almost no difference between 100% black and 90% black. The monitor and print may also show the
midtones with different brightness and contrast characteristics.
If the monitor and print
to look different, there would seem to be two basic approaches that could get them
to match better:
First, the view on the
monitor can be altered to match the print.
Second, the image file
can be printed so that the print matches the monitor’s view.
The curves workflow
suggested here supports both of these approaches.
a. Altering the monitor view to show the full 256 range
This procedure makes a
custom dot gain curve that is applied to the grayscale file after it is opened
in Photoshop. It has no effect on the
file values. It only affects how they
are displayed. The procedure at https://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Monitor-Profiling.htm
outlines the steps one takes to implement this approach. I have a function key set up on my system
such that every time I open a grayscale file I just hit the key and the full
range of values is displayed. The system
does not work with RGB files. It also
does not tag the file. The function key
must be pressed each time the file is opened.
Once the system is set up, it is very easy to use.
b. Printing the file so that it matches the typical monitor view
Although the curves I
make print the full range of values, a secondary curve can easily be made such
that the file prints in a manner that matches the monitor as it is typically
profiled with Adobe Gamma or a Spyder. For this approach the idea is to apply a
curve to the grayscale file that replicates the monitor compression and then
apply the RGB tone curve. In addition to
making the curves available, I have also placed them on a small file as
layers. This way they can simply be
dragged from the Tone Layers file to the file to be printed. Additionally, I have placed a
Monitor-Matching curves layer on the Tone Layers file. This file can be applied first to replicate
the monitor compression, and then the tone curve is applied.
To streamline this
process, the tone layer and a copy of the monitor layer can be combined into a
layer set. This way one simply drags the
combined tone + monitor layer to the file to be printed. The EEM neutral curve and monitor matching
curve have been put into a set to illustrate this. New layer sets can be made easily in
Photoshop (Layer>New>Layer set), and then the curves can be put into the
set by dragging them to the folder symbol on the layers set in the Layers
palette. It is important that the tone
layer be above the monitor layer. To get
the layers out of the set, just delete the layers set, set only (not the
contents).
If the monitor-matching
layer is not quite right for your system, the monitor matching layer can be
replaced with a new one that fits your system.
The monitor-matching curve is also posted with the tone curves. (See https://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/UT7-7600-curves.html) This curve can also be used if your system
prints files with steps that are not even.
In short, this curve is a place where one can “linearize” the system by
visually inspecting 21-step test files.
(For 21-step files, see https://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Test-files.htm.)
Enjoy the journey.
Paul
__________________________
PS: For an open forum where
I hang out, join the B&W Digital Print form at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/