Quadtone printing 4x5 negs

[Chris S]

Hi all, I have an Epson 1160 printer that I bought new about five years ago to do quadtone B&W with.I bought the MIS original Quadtone inkset at the same time along with some Somerset Velvet and Epson Enhanced Matt papers.I only scanned a few of my 35mm negs and did only several prints with this setup using the Roarke workflow, and the prints were ok.Life situations got in the way and I never touched the printer again, so it is pretty much still new.Now I have just taken up 4x5 and also bought an Epson 4990 scanner.My question is do I buy a new set of MIS Ultra Tone carts and paper and start trying a new workflow with something like Quadtone RIP on my 1160, or do I toss this printer and spend the money on something newer like an Epson 2400.Another words is the newer printer technology and K3 inks going to be worth spending the money over what I already have?

Thanks............................Chris

[Brian Ellis]

The 1160 was an excellent printer and I wouldn't get rid of it just because there are newer printers out there. If the ink you formerly used was the MIS Variable Mix ink, that ink isn't sold any more so you'll have to get something else. I'm not current on the inks MIS offers for the 1160 so you'll have to go to their site and see which ink to use.

If you're going to dedicate your printer to black and white by installing one of the MIS inks you don't need to use QTR or any other RIP as far as I know. QTR would be nice if you wanted to create your own paper profiles but otherwise I don't think there's any need for it when your printer is dedicated to b&w. The MIS inks and Paul Roark's curves should be sufficient. However, others here are more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am so if someone else explains why QTR would be advantageous even with quadtone inks and Paul Roark's curves listen to them rather than to me.

[Wayne Crider]

Just a heads up, but I believe last month I read a review on a photographer in one of the photo magazines about about this guy using a hextone ink set. I guess this is the upgrade from the quadtone set. You might look into that if your really into digital b&w printing.

[Ken Lee]

Photoshop allows you to mimic the appearance of quadtone inks, while using your normal inkset. No need to have a second printer and fiddle with cleaning, flushing, etc.



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