7900/9900 Profiles OK for 4900?

[spacegoose]

I was looking for an Epson Exhibition Fiber profile for the 4900 but couldn't find it. Would the 7900/9900 profile be suitable?

Additionally, for B&W, in the reviews here of the 7900, the reviewer mentions due to the 7900's advanced screening algorithms and ABW, a RIP isn't necessary (4900/7900/9900 owners, do you agree?), I wonder then why designer editions (which include a RIP) are offered by Epson?

I'm also wondering what the conventional wisdom is for B&W printing from negative scans ... Is ABW the way to go; or let Photoshop manage color and use ICC profile?

How about printing from a color managed RGB image vs. grayscale?

I was told by one printer it's best to scan B&W as monochrome, but in 16-bit or higher RGB, and then to assign the ProPhotoRGB profile in Photoshop ...

Thanks,
sg

[Dano Steinhardt]

The EFP (Exhibition Fiber Paper) profile is built into the 4900 driver.

The Designer Editions have a bundled software RIP.  This software is used by Graphic Designers and those in Pre-Press who work with Postscript, spot colors etc.

The software does provide productivity benefits for photographers, but if your goal is to produce small run fine-art black and white prints, then the software RIP is not needed.

Be it analog or digital, Black and White continues to be a lively topic with many opinions.  And with BW there often is no one correct answer.

You can get excellent B&W results with the 4900 using an icc workflow and letting Photoshop Manage Colors.

In my own tests (I'm the Epson guy so I'm somewhat biased) I get the best D-Max and tonal scale printing through ABW (Advanced Black and White Photo Mode) from files that were previously converted to BW. 

Two Tips on ABW
-The default density is "Darker"  For some "Dark" is the better setting to use.
-Use the Relative Rendering Intent for the best results.

Dan (Dano) Steinhardt
Marketing Manager, Professional Imaging
Epson America, Inc.