better black and white from an Epson artisian 800

[DeanSonneborn]

I'm trying to get better black and white images from my Epson Artisan 800. Yes, I understand that it is a color printer with just 1 black ink, so not the best for black and white prints. But none the less I'm exploring this issue. I can not decides if using CS4/Lightroom to manage the color or to let the printer manage the color actually gives better black and white prints. I've even tried some icc profiles developed by Eric Chan for the 3800 and these kind of work but the prints are just a bit darker than I would like but the relationships between the gray tones look good. Has anyone had good luck printing B&W with this model printer?

[mbridgers]

You could try Quadtone Rip.  Since the Artisan uses the same inks as the R380 and 1400 (Claria dyes) it might work.  I was able to get nice, neutral BW on glossy paper on my R280, glossy being the only supplied curve for QTR.

www.quadtonerip.com

[DeanSonneborn]

All the previous reading I had done always suggested that the best method to print was to let Lightroom/CS4 handle the color management. I had been getting frustrated printing black and white because they were alway to dark. So as an experiment I double color managed and set CD4 to manage to color and then set the printer to Epson's "fix photo" and Scene Correction to "gray". And now I get a black and white print that matches what I have on the screen. Which is the starting place I would like to have. Now I need to understand what exactly the Scene correction - gray setting is doings. Is anyone familiar with Epson's Scene Correction settings? Am I really double color managing or is the second printer color management over riding the CS4 color management.

[Jonathan Wienke]

All the previous reading I had done always suggested that the best method to print was to let Lightroom/CS4 handle the color management. I had been getting frustrated printing black and white because they were alway to dark.

If your prints are too dark when color managing properly, 95% of the time it s because your monitor is too bright for ambient viewing conditions. Doing stupid kludge stuff always will bite you on the butt even if they seem to work some times.

[DeanSonneborn]

I set my monitor to have 10% less brightness to see how that effect my adjustments and resulting prints. I'll keep everyone posted in a day or so.

[DeanSonneborn]

I lowered the monitor brightness level 15% of where it had been and now after I adjust in CS4 and then print I get a match to what I was seeing on the screen. CS4 manages the color, icc profiles match the paper and I'm back in business. Thanks for every one's suggestions.