Epson 3880 for Piezography? Should I?

[Darin Boville]

I'm looking at the prices for doing Piezography and I'm tempted to give it a go....

The 3880 is 1150 minus $300 rebate. The inkjetmall inks are 20% this weekend. Hmmm.

But a few questions first...

1) Am I correct that the 3880 ink cartridges will fit and work in the 3800 and visa versa? Since I'll get a set of inks with a new 3880 this is key to the cost savings!

2) Is there an advantage to using one printer over the other for B&W?

3) I use Ilford Gold Silk. It seems my two ink choices are Selenium and Warm. How will these look on this paper? Tonal shift? Any surprises? Other paper recommendations along the same lines as the Ilford?

4) For those of you who switched to the Cone inks, are you happy? Anyone not happy?

--Darin

[Kirk Gittings]

The trouble is figuring out what inkset to buy, but that is based on what it will look like on particular papers. I would not buy an inkset based on the paper I liked for Epson ink prints. IMO you should flush your ideas from printing b&w epson and start fresh with Cone materials. If you had more time you could (and should) buy the sample kits-though the descriptions are pretty accurate you really need to see them to make a decision.

Personally I am heading toward the Gloss Selenium inks on Cone Number 5 paper-this is a combo that looks allot like an air dried F surface cold toned paper developed in a warm toned developer ie very very slightly warm toned.

[paulr]

I'm extremely happy with mine. I did all my printing with the now-defunct Piezotone ICC quatdtone inks. I don't have experience with the newer inks, but most people seem to think they're better.

The issue I have is really the same as with any high end inkjet printing. I tend to print a big project, and then do very little printing for many months. Inks are expensive and have a poor shelf life. But they're much more expensive if you buy in consumer quantities. So the trick is to find a sweet spot that's economical.

Printer quality also plays into this. Consumer grade printers are capable of producing high end results, but they don't last. Professional printers are last but are expensive ... and they have large ink resevoirs, which means you risk wasting a lot of ink and possibly clogging / killing your print heads if you don't print enough volume.

I haven't figured out the answer to all this ... it's probably an evolving one.

Kirk, have you been able to compare the colors of the various K6 and K7 inksets? I'd be looking for something similar to the old Warm Neutral piezotone set. A little cooler would be ok, but I wouldn't want anything warmer. I've always printed on PhotoRag. I would consider another paper if it meant greater dMax without other quality sacrifices.

[Kirk Gittings]

Paul. All I can suggest is to buy the test prints and see what compares to your old prints.

FWIW everyone there are some good deals on Cone inks today at InkJet Mall.

[Tyler Boley]

Kirk is correct, the various inksets on different papers need to be seen. Particularly the MPS sets, they have a unique hue on photo surfaces a bit different than on matte. I'd advise getting samples or even having them make a print. They have an on line smaller size print order system that's very affordable.
Kirk, I agree with you about the Type 5 paper, love it, it's an unsung underdog out there. Color looks great on it too, but I have to say the GO overprint brings it to life.

[Peter Langham]

Just to add a bit more confusion to the mix: Cone mentioned a new Piezography Pro 2 set for the 3800/3880 last summer. (check the Piezography blog) Have not heard anything about it since, but it is supposed to have the capability to install 2 sets of inks and split tone or blend to your hearts content. (you can check out the QTR split tone set up to begin to get some idea of the possibilities.)

[Darin Boville]

Hmmm. I'm hesitating. The printer deal comes and goes so what we're talking here is $150 off a $1500 purchase. Maybe not the right time to do this, maybe it needs more looking in to. Hmmmm.

--Darin

[Helen Bach]

Paul,

I have some of the Type 5 and Type 2 paper MPS sample prints from Inkjetmall at the studio in Tribeca (beside the Film Festival building) if you want to call by sometime. I'm thinking of getting a Piezography system again.

Best,
Helen

[paulr]

Thanks Helen. When I'm ready to put together a new piezo setup I'll send you a note.

[Brian K]

Darin why the interest in piezography? Are you just wanting to print B&W more accurately? There are some issues using the Cone inks. I had all sort of clogging issues and if you plan to use it on a printer still under warranty, especially if it's new, you will most likely void that warranty if there is a problem. Also forget about printing color out of that printer, so you'll need a second printer if you plan to do any color work.

If those issues present a real concern for you you might want to consider getting a really good rip software and using the stock epson inks. I use studio print 14 which is unfortunately a windows software (but parallels takes care of that for me) and I get dead neutral prints, if I so choose, without any metamerism. And I can still print color any time. I admit though it's a more costly solution as the software is not cheap.