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Right after we finished introducing the Ultratone inks, we discovered another B&W ink blend using the Ultratone shades. This new blend was made specifcally for the Epson 1280 printers. It can print sepia tones, where the original Ultratone ink could not. It also can be used with just the Epson sliders to produce warm to neutral tone prints. This means adjustment curves and the purchase of Photoshop are not required. However, with the use of adjustment curves, UT2 can print a broad range of tones from dark sepia to full cool. The original Ultratone only goes from warm to cool, no sepia. Plus we discovered that UT2 makes a superior glossy print. So, we could not ignore UT2. Original UT is a great ink that can be used on a number of printers, so it has a place as well. (Thought you would ask, so this is the answer up front.)

ULTRATONE 2 CARTRIDGES FOR THE 890 & 1280

UT2 BULK INK FOR THE 890 & 1280

CONTINUOUS FLOW SYSTEMS FOR THE 890 & 1280

For more information about these CFS units, go to CFS-890 or CFS-1280. Or start at the beginning and get an overview of all the available CFS Units.

WORKFLOW INSTRUCTIONS

Here is Paul Roark's workflow for making B&W prints with UT2 inks. These inks are a variable tone ink and can be used to produce warm or neutral prints by using just the SLIDERS on the Epson driver. To get the full range of tones from the UT2 inks, image adjustment curves are required. With curves, the inks will print from full sepia to cool on a variety of papers. These curves were created by Paul and they are free. Follow the steps outlined below and you will end up with a beautiful B&W archival prints.

Each curve is for a specific paper. The curve names indicate the paper to be used. In most cases Hahnamuhle Photo Rag, or Epson UltraSmooth will also produce good results due to their similar profile with EAM or EEM. Other papers may require an adjustment to the curves. Use the article by Dirk Hobman below to understand how to modify the curves.

When a curve is applied, the image will turn nice bright colors, but these are false colors. The image is no longer WYSIWYG. This is for printing only, and should not be saved over the good grayscale working file. Do not attempt to edit the image once the curve has been applied.

(Note that a Photoshop Action (macro) can program a function key to convert to RGB, call up and apply the desired adjustment curve/tone, and get the user into the print driver. That is, this can be a one-button procedure/workflow.)

The Epson driver is used to print this inkset. Follow Paul's instructions for making the print. Here he provides detailed instructions and settings for making warm or neutral prints without using any workflow curves.

Read UT2 Information and Settings by Paul Roark. If you are going to use the Photoshop curves, he describes which ones to use for the various tones and papers.

Be sure to let the print dry before judging the color or tones. If you need a good stepwedge to work with, you can download the one we use. For barrier type papers (glossy, luster & semigloss) spray prints with a protective coating like PremierArt Print Shield or Lyson Print Guard. This spray largely eliminates the differential reflections (including what some call bronzing) and makes the print surface so tough it can be cleaned with a damp cloth.

If you would like to know more about how the Photoshop Curves are constructed, you can read the information provided by one of our "expert customers", Dirk Hobman. Dirk explains how to make curves for the MIS UltraTone B&W inks. Plus he offers a couple of graphic forms for keeping track of the data that is gathered in the process. To read his article on B&W curve making, download this file... hobman.zip.

There is an excellent forum called Digital B&W, The Print. The forum discusses all digital technologies related to making monochrome prints from digital sources, including the MIS ink sets and workflows. If you are using MIS inks or plan on using them, this is a great place to find additional information and to contact current users.

If you are using matte paper, then put in an Eboni black cartridge (ARC-T007-K). If you are using glossy or semigloss paper, put in a Photo black cartridge (ARC-T007-PK). The 5 inks in the color cartridge do not have to change, they will work on matte or glossy papers. Do not use MIS Universal black (MK). The fade resistance of MK is not adequate for making archival prints.

Do not mix these inks with other Non Ultratone inks. For refilling or Continuous Flow Systems, you must start with virgin empty cartridges. Provided this condition is met, no flushing or purging of the printer is needed. One or two cleaning cycles will remove any color or non Ultratone ink from inside the print head. These inks will not clog or damage your printer if you follow this advice.

The workflow described above uses the Epson driver software for controlling the printer. There are other drivers or RIP's available for printing in B&W with MIS UT2 inks. QuadTone RIP and Bowhaus are both available for use on Mac computers. Neither of these will work on a Windows machine.

Quadtone RIP is gaining more support and functionality each week. Roy Harrington, the author, has created profiles for MIS UT2 on the 1270 and 1280 printers. We have not seen the prints, but customers using this software say the prints are great. We support Roy's efforts and have encouraged him to develop a Windows version of Quadtone RIP. He is working on it. If you are a Mac OSX owner, we suggest you visit his site and read about this unique way to make prints and profiles.

Bowhaus is an approach similar to Quadtone RIP, but with a more graphical user interface. We have seen prints done on a 2200 with the Bowhaus software and MIS Ultratone inks. They look very good. On the Bowhaus site, if you download the Printmaker program, you will get some profiles to use with our 2200 inks. Printmaker works only on Mac OS9. A version for OSX is due to be launched very soon, per Bowhaus. Bowhause profiles for use with UT2 have not been created yet, as far as we know.

Both Quadtone RIP and Bowhaus allow you to make your own B&W profiles or to use pre-built profiles which they supply. We support both of these alternate methods for making prints with our inks. Hopefully in the future the software will continue to mature and benefit B&W artists and photographers even more. These are exciting times for the Digital Darkroom.

WHICH PAPER TO USE