Piezographic versus Epson B&W?

[Gary Ferguson]

Is anyone using a Piezographic ink set alongside Epson inks? If so I'd appreciate your thoughts on how the two compare for monochrome.

I used to use Piezographic inks, but I ran out of patience with trying to keep them clog free, now I just use an Epson 2400 with an ImagePrint RIP. Recently I reprinted some older shots with the 2400 and compared them with the original Piezographic prints, I have to say the Piezographic prints seem to have the edge. So I'd like to hear from other photographers who have done side by side monochrome comparisons between the two.

[free1000]

I used PiezoTones a while back... as well as clogging I had terrible banding issues in areas of graded tonality.

I  bought an Epson 4000 and discovered QTRip and havent looked back. I stick with the standard Epson inks.

This even makes good prints on the new 'fibre like' papers. I would doubt that Piezotones would be so flexible.
 
I just had some work printed on the new Ilford Digital Fibre paper on a lambda, so silver gelatin. Beautiful paper. But in the end, I think I preferred the smaller prints I made at home on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and QTRip. the simple fact of being able to use trial and error and make 15 prints to get things just right mean that I prefer the smaller prints even than prints made by a good lab that just finished printing David Baileys new exhibition.

I now think I'd rather have a print which I made, on more limited equipment, to a print made by someone else... cos in the end its my judgement versus theirs....

But its QTRip that made it all possible. Roy Harrington is "Da Man!"

[dbell]

Is anyone using a Piezographic ink set alongside Epson inks? If so I'd appreciate your thoughts on how the two compare for monochrome.

I used to use Piezographic inks, but I ran out of patience with trying to keep them clog free, now I just use an Epson 2400 with an ImagePrint RIP. Recently I reprinted some older shots with the 2400 and compared them with the original Piezographic prints, I have to say the Piezographic prints seem to have the edge. So I'd like to hear from other photographers who have done side by side monochrome comparisons between the two.
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My experience was that MIS's UltraTone inks might have had an advantage over what I get from Epson's K3 inks, but it was so awful to keep the printer running with the UT inks that I quickly gave up. If I'm hanging a show and I can't get my prints finished on time, it doesn't really matter how good the ones that are finished look.

That aside, I find that paper selection is hugely important in how good K3 prints look. The prints that I made early on with my 2400 (on Epson Enhanced Matte, Premium Glossy and Premium Lustre) don't hold up against the ones I make now on Pictorico White Film or Silver Rag.


--
Daniel Bell

[picnic]

Is anyone using a Piezographic ink set alongside Epson inks? If so I'd appreciate your thoughts on how the two compare for monochrome.

I used to use Piezographic inks, but I ran out of patience with trying to keep them clog free, now I just use an Epson 2400 with an ImagePrint RIP. Recently I reprinted some older shots with the 2400 and compared them with the original Piezographic prints, I have to say the Piezographic prints seem to have the edge. So I'd like to hear from other photographers who have done side by side monochrome comparisons between the two.
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You may find the discussions on DigitalBlackandWhite list to be just what you are looking for.  There is a long discussion right now about a print comparison (I wasn't privy to the initial discussions but I think this was all with the same RAW file) with various workflows, inks, printers--and they 'hung' it in NY, I believe, at PHotoExpo at a rented space.  Its held my attention--I have a 3800 on order with K3 inks of course, but I've been printing with a 2200 and QTR (I've been procrastinating for a good while about dedicated mono inks--and My 1280 still sits silent because of that LOL).  
[a href=\"http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/]http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Digital...dWhiteThePrint/[/url]

Diane

[nemophoto]

I've used Piezography inks for about six years. I have a 7000 loaded with the Quad ICC Selenium inks at the moment, and have a 4000. (So glad I have the 4000, not the 4800. It's truly Epson's wet dream to have you waste $40 in ink every time you want to switch between matte and gloss).

I find I still really like the Piezography inks for SOME images. I've also used QTR and IJM/OPM to try to create custom paper profiles with both printers and a variety of inks. At this point, I only like the Piezography inks when I print with the ICC Hahnemuhle William Turner profile/paper from Inkjetmall. I've yet to create anything satisfactory with QTR or IJM/OPM and the quad Piezotone inks.

On the other hand, I've created some very nice B&W profiles for the new Crane Silver Rag using IJM/OPM. I love the look and Dmax of the Silver Rag, but as with most glossy and semi-gloss papers, you get tons of reflections.

I think if you are inclined to mess with profiles for the 2400 in QTR with the K7 inks, you'll be pleased. Additionally, I believe they've done some "canned profiles you can use. To me, the real trick is finding a good K7 ink/paper combo you like that will represent how you see your B&W.