ULTRA TONE FS (“UT-FS”) INKSETS IN
THE 1280
INFORMATION AND SETTINGS
By
(4-22-04)
(Note, the formatting of this
document works best when viewed at full screen width.)
The Ultra Tone FS inksets
are pure pigment, predominantly carbon, black and
white inksets for Epson printers. They
can be purchased from MIS Associates.
See the MIS website at: http://www.inksupply.com/bw/utfs1280
This Readme information
page is for the 1280, but the same cartridges fit the 1270 and 1290, and those
related printers should perform about the same as the 1280. It has also been reported that the Epson 900
works very well with this inkset and the 1280 curves.
Ink Characteristics
The Ultra Tone monotone
inksets come in two hues or tones –
medium warm (UT-FS) and neutral (UT-FSN).
Different papers, of course, print with different characteristics.
The FS ink order in the printer cartridges is referred to as “CMCMY.”
This puts the dark gray FS-C ink in both the cyan and magenta
positions. The medium gray FS-M goes in
both the light cyan and light magenta cartridge positions, and the light gray
FS-Y goes in the yellow position. Some
older hextone ink arrangements have used more light ink. For modern printers, however, this is not
only unnecessary, but it can flood the paper, causing, among other problems,
spots on glossy papers.
The UT-FS inksets can print on matte or glossy papers with
several alternative procedures or workflows.
MIS “Eboni” Matte black is used with the inkset when printing on matte
papers. MIS Photo Black is used for the
best glossy prints, but very good glossy prints are also possible with Eboni
ink installed.
These are the only
readily available monotone B&W inksets that can make extremely archival
images on almost any paper type, with the limiting factor often being the paper
itself.
Settings
Most of the settings for
printing these inksets are the same no matter what paper is being printed. For glossy papers, however, the Media Type
setting may change.
The Color Settings in Photoshop (Edit, Color Settings) are set as
follows: First, set the top line to
Photoshop 5 Default spaces. Second, set
the RGB working space to Adobe RGB (1998).
In the Epson driver, the “Print Space” should
read, “Same as Source.” Use “Matte Paper
Heavyweight:” for the Media Type unless noted otherwise, below. The Print Quality is set to 1440, with High
Speed checked for matte papers, but not checked for glossy papers. In the Color Management section, always use
“No Color Adjustment.”
Printing on Matte Papers
Although many matte
papers print quite nicely with no curves or adjustments, most will print better
with the use of a simple Photoshop image adjustment curve. These are applied to the final file just
before printing.
Several Photoshop curves
have been pre-made to profile the inkset for the papers mentioned below. These curves files can be loaded in the usual
manner in Photoshop (Image, Adjust, Curves) or Picture Window (Transform, Gray,
curves), or they can be loaded as a Transfer Function in the printer driver
Setup box, if printing from Photoshop.
(Note that RGB curves
will not load as Transfer Functions.
Beware that after a Transfer Function has been loaded and used, it may
still be there the next time you print.
So, check the Transfer Function to be sure you know what is there.)
Curves are available for
Epson Enhanced Matte (“EEM” – a very popular and affordable paper, but not
archival), Hahnemuhle PhotoRag (a popular cotton paper due to its high dmax,
but expensive and with a sensitive surface that tends to flake), and PremierArt
Fine Art Hot Press. (The PremierArt 205
is a good value among cotton papers with coating on both sides that appears to
be quite durable. It appears to have the
same coating as Epson UltraSmooth fine art paper.) These curves can be downloaded from a
separate “Download” page, noted further below.
The existing curves will
probably be close to what is needed for many papers. For information on how to modify the curves
to, for example, profile the inkset for a different paper,
see the “Modifying Curves” section, below.
The curves and other
downloadable information and test files can be accessed from links at www.PaulRoark.com. On my main page, see the first link to the
information index.
Printing on Glossy Paper with Photo Black Ink Installed
If one is only printing
glossy paper, or wants the deepest black (best dmax) on such papers, the use of
Photo Black ink is recommended as opposed to the Eboni matte black ink, which
is not compatible with glossy papers.
(And Photo black ink does not produce a good black dmax on matte paper.)
Among glossy papers,
three deserve special mention and are supported with pre-made curves. Note that the Media Type driver settings will
vary according to paper. If the media
type is different than the paper name, a reminder is in the curve name.
Epson Glossy Photo Paper is a bargain and also
about the only popularly-available glossy paper that prints with no unwanted
artifacts like “bronzing.” This makes
it a standard against which to judge other glossy papers when MIS Photo Black
ink is used. The driver Media Type setting of “Photo Paper” will give the best
dmax. A curve has been made for
grayscale printing on this paper. There
is also a second curve that requires the file to first be converted to RGB. This RGB curve is the smoothest. (Note, Epson UltraChrome pigments do not
print well on the paper.)
Epson Premium glossy papers – Glossy,
Semigloss, and Luster – are the only popularly-available glossy papers that
might be considered archival, although some question whether any glossy paper
can be as archival as a cotton matte paper.
Like most glossy papers, the bronzing is reduced by spraying with
PremierArt Print Shield after printing.
Many think the Premium Semigloss has the best surface of this
group. Use “Premium Glossy” Media Type
in the Epson driver. A grayscale curve
has been made for this set of papers.
Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl paper has the
highest dmax. The Media Type selection should be “Photo
Quality Glossy Film.” A grayscale
curve has been made for this paper. As
with most glossy papers, spraying with PremierArt (or Lyson Print Guard) will
lessen the bronzing.
For glossy paper, the
Epson printer "pizza wheels"
may leave marks on the finished print. I
recommend the wheels be removed or raised to eliminate the mars. See the instructions at either http://www.inksupply.info/?_a=knowledgebase&_j=subcat&_i=1 or
http://www.inkjetart.com/pizza/ .
Printing on Glossy Papers with Eboni Matte Black Installed
Glossy papers can be
printed with Eboni matte black installed if they use an RGB curve. Using this method of printing is the most
convenient if you also regularly use matte papers because the black ink does
not have to be changed. The RGB curves
simply print the black with the 2 dark gray inks, not using the Eboni matte
black ink at all.
With this procedure, the
dmax is not as great as with Photo Black ink installed, but on Ilford Galerie
Smooth Pearl paper the dmax is still very good (over 2.0), and others may well
be very good also. With all glossy
papers the dmax can be increased further by spraying with PremierArt Print
Shield after the print has dried.
All three of the papers
above are supported by pre-made curves for printing with Eboni installed. The Media Type settings are the same as noted
above. The curves for this procedure
include “Eboni” in the name of the curve.
With RGB curves the print
density is controlled by a simple, single set of points, usually on the
combined RGB curve. When
Eboni ink is installed, the Blue curve turns off the light gray ink after the
highlights and stops the Eboni matte black from being used. The Red and Green curves illustrate how one
can easily move the centers of those up and down in offsetting fashion and
achieve a smoother grayscale ramp – with any grayscale curve.
Modifying Curves
Making new curves or
modifying the existing ones for other papers is an open process that allows
users to freely profile the inksets for any paper. To do this, use one of the existing curves to
print a 21-step test file print on the supported paper. Then use that test strip as a visual
reference for modifying curves for other papers. (21-step test files are downloadable from
pages linked to www.PaulRoark.com,
via the information index.)
The procedure involves
viewing the different patches of gray on the reference and new curves’
test-strip prints, and making modifications to the curves file in Photoshop
when it is applied to a 21-step test file.
If a patch on the new curve is not equal to the reference print, just
move the point for that patch density level on the curve up or down as
needed. Use the Ctrl and Tab (and Shift)
keys to move from point to point along the curve. Click in the “Output” box and use the arrow
keys to move the point up or down. When
the dark ends of the curves’ axes are at the bottom left (switched with the
arrows in the horizontal axis), moving a point down increases density.
Most matte papers will print
smoothly from a grayscale file with a grayscale curve. However, if the input file is only 8 bits (as
opposed the 16 bits that are recommended for working up digital image files),
there could be some evidence of stair-stepping.
If this is visible, convert the grayscale file to RGB when you want to
print it. Then when you open the curves
file for that paper, it will be an RGB curve with the original grayscale curve
points on a combined ‘RGB” curve. Below
that “RGB” curve, however, are separate Red, Green and Blue curves. These can be used to smooth out any stair
stepping that might have occurred in the printing. The RGB file has 24 bits available to it as
opposed to the 8 bits of the grayscale.
Moving the centers of the Red and Green curves in an offsetting fashion,
as illustrated by the PremierArt RGB curve, will often be enough to smooth out
the print. For example, put a point on
the middle of the Red curve (at 127 or 50%); do the same on the Green curve. Then use the arrow keys to move the Red center
point up 10 units and the Green center point down 10 units. The original grayscale curve’s points will be
on the combined RGB curve and will continue to adjust the densities as before.
Where to Learn About B&W Printing
For an open forum where B&W
digital printing is discussed, join the B&W Digital Print forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/
Enjoy,
Paul