Black and white print quality of ImagePROGRAF PRO-1000 compared to Pixma Pro 1

[JeffS]

I've been interested in the ImagePROGRAF PRO-1000 from Canon since it was announced, but am predominately interested in it's ability to print black and white.  I know the Pixma Pro 1 offered true quad tone  print capability, and the Pro 1000 only offers 3 inks for matte or gloss.  I was wondering if anyone had done comparisons on this or had info that would be helpful?  I currently own the Epson 3800 but have been disappointed by the black and white print capabilities primarily because of issues you get with gloss differential and bronzing with Epson printers on gloss papers.  I don't know why Epson does not address this issue.  I know Canon uses the gloss optimizer to solver this problem, so I'm hoping the Canon Pro 1000 compares favorably to the Pixma Pro 1 in black & white print quality. 

Jeff

[Sbarroso]

Two points:
* The pixma pro 1 does use some color inks when printing in BW mode, besides the gray ones.

* For what i've seen in the web, Epson has a clear advantage in dmax for matte bw prints (but also the matte/glossy switch is necessary).

Aside of this two points, the only thing I can say is that I'm a happy user of the pixma pro 1 (for both color and BW).

[shadowblade]

If you primarily print black-and-white, have you considered converting the Epson to run Piezography inks?

After having prints made using Piezography and MIS Eboni inks, it's hard to go back to any other black-and-white print process, except for HP Vivera if you need absolutely colour-neutral shades. There's just no substitute quality-wise.

[MHMG]

I don't have the Pro-1000, but I do have the Pro-1 and I think it's fair to say that the Pro-1's extra shade of gray does help this printer  produce very nice "out-fo-the-box" B&W prints, but it does so essentially acting like a very well profiled color printer with strong GCR (gray component replacement) for neutral and near neutral RGB values.  Its grayscale mode is effectively a conversion of any RGB color image to the underlying color LUT in the printer driver/firmware. It's not like Epson's ABW mode which does invoke a different LUT for ink channel blending.

Bottom line, IMHO, is that Canon has provided a very nice B&W output for printmakers who don't want to tinker under the hood or up their game with third party RIPS like Roy Harrington's QTR rip, or go for the ultimate B&W experience which means putting a dedicated set of B&W inks into your printer.  However, when I take the time to create a very careful custom built profile for my other 13 and 17 inch printers that have 3 rather than 4 level gray, the typical viewer would be hard pressed to tell the B&W output from any of them apart.  On the other hand, die-hard B&W printmakers will get their noses right up close to the final print and check things like dot pattern smoothness, presence of color dots, tonality and especially shadow detail, and overall visual acutance of the printed image. If you strive to be in that elite group of B&W practitioners, then you will probably end up with a dedicated B&W printing solution like Piezography, MIS Eboni, custom diluted HP Vivera photo gray shades, and/or the QTR rip at the very least

cheers,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com

[JeffS]

Thanks for eveyone's input!! Very helpful