Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/06/14

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Subject: [Leica] The first print with Piezotone inks....
From: Darrell Jennings <darrell_jennings@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 10:56:56 -0700 (PDT)

I have just printed my first print with the Piezotone
inks.  I tried the previous Peizo Quad Blacks and they
clogged VERY Badly after two prints.  The new inks had
to sit in the printer overnight before being used (see
the micro bubble issue on the Ink Jet Mall Tech
support web site), but this AM the new inks were
printing test patterns so I gave it a try.  

My first print was shot with Scala. The subject can be
seen at
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=733945 ,
and was scanned with an Epson 2450 from a Hasselblad
shot...sorry to be slightly off topic, I'll be
printing some Leica shots this evening.

I managed to get one good print of this shot out of
the old inks before they clogged so I have a good way
to compare the results for those of you that are
already using Cones Quad Black.

To my eye the new ink looks even more neutral in the
grey and black tones than the old. The old inks look
just slightly more "brown". I was actually surprised
at this since the folks at Ink Jet Mall described the
new inks as "warmer" which to me is less neutral, but
my experience is they are very neutral, and have a
really deep black. 

The quality of the print 15x15 inches at 1440 DPI
using the Cones plugin is AMAZING!  The final print
was done on Cones Wells River paper.  The paper is a
PAIN IN THE ASS! It is a medium weight "water color"
style paper. It must be brushed sheet by sheet before
loading in the printer. The printer must have the
feeder "feet" cleaned every five or six prints. It
also requires (on my Epson 3000) a 3/16's inch piece
of foam core under the paper, must be fed one sheet at
a time, and needs a bit of me holding the back of the
sheet as it loads to ensure that it goes in straight. 

All that said, the end product is absolutely as good
as any black and white print I have ever done, and
equal in quality to a platinum print I just got back
from a lab in Maine. While the paper is difficult, I
tried the Cones Matte paper and found that I could see
slight indentations from the feeder mechanism on the
printer down the length of the 17x22 inch paper. The
Matte is thiner than the Wells River, and much easier
to use but overall doesn't look as good to my eye. I
plan on trying to use my iron to press the slight
dents out later today...



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