I print B/W mainly on matte papers with Epson printer using K3 inks (strictly speaking, on a R2400 with several papers such as Hahne Photo Rag).
I tried several workflow processes: B/W tuned ICC profiles, Epson ABW and recently QuadTone QTR (still under test phase). Perhaps I am lucky but have not noticed any metamerism problems with any of the workflow I used. I measured the density curves for each workflow and determined that B/W tuned ICC profiles and QTR produce a fairly straight linear response for all ink densities (obvious for QTR since there is a linearization phase!), unlike ABW (need some tuning in the high ink densities).
I have noticed that the measured black level is better (= lower L*) and quite similar on prints produced with ABW and QTR, than when using regular ICC profiles. Is there a way to improve this black level? I mean the black level produced when using ICC profiles? With QTR, the highest black level is reached by determining the ink limits. For ABW, this is likely determined by the selected type of paper and the ink level. For ICC profile, the only parameter that I can alter is the ink level setting in the Epson driver. Is this the right way to go?
I made the assumption that I can get the same black density using ICC profiles than the one I get with ABW or QTR (same black density).
_michel M
Switzerland.
