UT7 is used with Eboni matte black ink. This system prints on both matte and glossy papers. By not having to switch black inks, continuous flow inking systems can be used, and the 7600 and 9600 become economical for both matte and glossy papers.

This inkset supports a wide variety of printing procedures (“workflows”) for B&W printing. Any application from Word to page-layout programs can be used to print tones (hues) from neutral to medium warm on matte paper just by using the standard Epson print driver and default settings.

With image editors like Photoshop, Picture Window, and Photoshop Elements more control is possible, including print tones that range from dark sepia to very cold on either matte or glossy paper. With this approach the print is controlled by readily-available and easily-modifiable image adjustment curves or (especially for PS Elements) image layers that include the curves.

The settings for these printing methods are in separate sections below.

INK POSITIONS

The UT7 inkset uses predominantly carbon pigments. These are very similar to those used in the UT2 inkset (for the 1280) and UT1 inkset (for many printers including the 7500), but the mixes and positions of the inks vary among these inksets.

In UT7 the cyan and light cyan ink positions use un-toned carbon pigments, which give a warm print tone. The magenta and light magenta positions are carbon pigments toned cold with cyan and magenta pigments (which are also organic, carbon-based). No dyes are used in this inkset, so all images will be very fade resistant.

The yellow position ink is sepia. This ink is composed of 84% UT7 light cyan (light gray), 8% MIS 7600 yellow and 8% MIS 7600 magenta. Because there are many different sepia tones, this position is one where some users might want to mix a custom sepia tone, varying the ratios of the yellow and magenta pigments.

The yellow ink position is also where any custom ink tone could be placed and fairly easily controlled in the inkset by using the sepia curves or modifications of them. The inkset would still be able to print neutral and carbon tones via RGB curves that essentially cut the yellow-position toner out of the mix.

One alternative format for the inkset is put a pure carbon pigment – the Light Cyan position ink – in the yellow position. This will cause the inkset with no curves applied to be cooler than the standard inkset. If people prefer cool-neutral prints and will not want to print sepia tones, this might be recommended.

The Light Black ink is not the standard MIS/Epson Light Black tone. It has been neutralized substantially to give more neutral shadow tones. Again, this is particularly important when no curves or sliders are used. It makes very little difference in other cases. If one wants warmer shadow tones when no curves are used, the standard (warm) Light Black can be used in this position.

SLIDER CONTROLS – Printing from any Application

Because the inkset can be controlled by the Epson driver, excellent B&W images can be printed from any application, such as Word or page-layout programs.

All of the necessary settings can be made when a person starts to print a file, clicking on "File" (in the top bar) and then "Print" in most applications. In the printer driver, one first clicks on Properties;. then Custom. and Advanced. That gets to a box that contains all of the settings needed. I recommend checking the box at the lower right that says, "Show this screen first."

(Note that the driver alone can also print glossy paper if Photo black ink is installed. Users can determine the best slider settings. I prefer to leave Eboni matte black ink in the printer and use curves to print glossy papers.)

Recommended Settings

These are the recommended settings for best grayscale file printing: (Note, you must start with a grayscale image)

Media Type is "Enhanced Matte Paper" unless otherwise stated in the individual paper settings sections.

Print Quality sets the number of dots per inch – higher is better. I find 1440 dpi is generally good enough. If the print looks rough, uncheck "High Speed." This is often almost as good as and much faster than 2880, which is the highest quality.

Color Management Color Controls checked, Mode = Standard.

SLIDER SETTINGS FOR SOME POPULAR PAPERS

Slider Settings vary and are listed by paper.

With sliders in the "0" or neutral position, the print will be slightly warm. Adding "Magenta" (the cool ink) by moving the Magenta slider to the right cools the print, removing magenta warms the print. Adding "Cyan" (the warm gray ink) or "Yellow" (sepia tone) warms the print.

The recommended starting points, below, are not necessarily the only or even best settings to achieve the indicated tone and the best print for every printer. Experiment with the slider settings to get the desired results. Similar settings will probably work for a number of matte papers. Large moves of the sliders may negatively affect the print quality.

Note that the "neutral" tone of this inkset is often referred to as "selenium" tone because it matches the tone of a lightly-selenium-toned silver print.

Matte Paper use Eboni Black Ink	Media Setting	Slider Settings
		Neutral Prints	Warm Prints
Epson Enhance Matte ("EEM") (aka "Archival Matte") These settings will probably work for a number of matte papers. This non-archival (100 year dark storage) paper sets the standard for smooth matte display prints.	Enhanced Matte Paper	C -10 M +5 Y   0 Con 0 Br 0	C +5 to +15 M -5 to -10 Y +25 Con 0 to +5 Br 0
Hahnamuhle PhotoRag (see note 1) and PermaJet Alpha (see note 2)	Enhanced Matte Paper	C -20 M +10 Y  0 Con 0 Br 0	C +7 M -7 Y +25 Con 0 Br -4
(see note 3) Epson UltraSmooth, Epson Scrapbook, PremierArt Fine Art Hot Press	Enhanced Matte Paper	C -15 M +7 Y  0 Con 0 Br 0	C +5 M -5 Y +25 Con +3 Br 0
(1)  PhotoRag, also sold by others under different names, is a standard for cotton, archival prints. It has the deepest blacks, but should be brushed or wiped before printing to avoid "flaking" of the surface (small flakes of coating pop off and leave a white spots or holes in the image). Spraying with PremierArt Print Shield will help protect the sensitive image surface. The paper may be prone to yellowing by airborne pollutants. (2)  PermaJet’s new Alpha has no optical brighteners, does not flake, and has a dmax almost equal to PhotoRag. It may set a new standard for those who like creamy-toned cotton papers. (3)  These papers are all essentially the same, and they are among the only cotton papers that do not have problems with "flaking." UltraSmooth has no optical brighteners but is still a relatively bright paper. It is the best paper in fade testing that I have tested. This paper sets the standard for archival storage.

Other Papers Worth Trying

Moab Entrada Fine Art - For a very cool-tone paper that is also very reasonably priced for a cotton, try Moab Entrada Fine Art. Use the Enhanced Matte settings. Moab has both a brightened version and a version with no optical brighteners.

Arches Hot Press - The 2200 with UT7 ink is capable of the best non-coated, cotton-paper print I have yet seen. Arches Hot Press has the smoothest surface and best dmax by far that I’ve seen with such papers. The dmax, at 1.56 when totally dry, is actually higher than some coated inkjet papers.

Note that the relatively light weight Arches HP 90 (189 gsm) and 140 (300 gsm) print the same – front an back from what I can tell.

The ability to get a good image on a non-coated paper with the reputation of Arches might be very significant for the fine art market or any market that wants the most stable paper. Also, this sets the bar for pricing. At Dick Blick a full sheet (22x30”) of HP 90 is only $2.38. When cut to letter-size, this is $0.40 per page. Not bad for an absolutely non-flaking, double-sided, archival cotton paper. The 140 (300 gsm) at $33 for 10 sheets at Cheap Joes comes to $0.55 per letter-size sheet.

These papers come in natural of bright white, neither of which, of course, has any optical brighteners.

Arches Hot Press benefits from the light black ink in the 2200. This ink is used by the driver primarily when the RGB channels are equal – that is, with gray scale images. Thus, the smoothest printing is when neither sliders nor RGB curves are used. A simple grayscale curve, however, can improve the contrast. “UT22-ARchesHP-GS” is one that works well with media type at EEM and Color Controls checked. (A transfer function could probably do the same thing if printing without Photoshop is needed.) The “Color Density” slider in the “Ink Config” area is set to + 20%. Resolution should be at 2880 with High Speed not checked.

Arches HP prints warm. By putting the UT7 LC ink in the yellow position as well as in the LC position, the print looks neutral, even though it is still somewhat warm. I have not yet tested the bright white version.

IMAGE EDITOR ADJUSTMENT CURVES

The UT7 inkset was designed to give a very good B&W image by printing a grayscale file (not a color image) There are many ways to convert color images to grayscale. Use a technique that does not cause pixel data to be lost in the conversion.

There are three alternatives for printing with adjustment curves.

While Photoshop is the industry standard image editor, Picture Window is a good, affordable alternative. It may be the only alternative that is compatible with the Photoshop Image Adjustment Curves that are used to control the inkset. They are loaded by clicking on Transform, Color, Curves, and the top “Opt” button in the curves box. (The lower “Opt” button does not have the same flexibility.) The curves type then needs to be changed to “Photoshop Curves Files.”

Another affordable route to controlling the inkset is through Photoshop Elements. While this program cannot directly use the image adjustment curves, it can indirectly apply them by dragging a layer off another image that has the desired curve as an adjustment layer. Small image files with the curves applied as layers will be available for downloading just like the curves. They are a very easy way to control the inks.

Controlling the print tones with image adjustment curves gives more control than the sliders and has some other advantages for experienced printers. Which curve is applied determines the mix of inks and thus the tone of the print.

Basic Workflow & Settings

For this approach the final grayscale file must first be changed to an RGB color image for printing. (Save the final grayscale file before doing this.) In Photoshop, set the RGB working space to AdobeRGB(1998). (Edit, Color settings – I set the top setting to Photoshop 5 Defaults and then change RGB working space to Adobe RGB (1998).) The Picture Window and Photoshop Elements default color settings work fine.

For some curves, particularly the stronger sepia curves and some of the carbon curves, it is best to have the RGB file in 16 bit mode before the tone curve is applied. This is true even if the grayscale file was an 8 bit file. Once the curve is applied the file can be converted back to 8 bit per channel with no decrease in print quality.

In general, in the driver the following settings are used:

• Media Type - Enhanced Matte Paper unless otherwise stated.

• Print Quality – 1440, High Speed unchecked, works well for most prints; 2880 gives marginally better quality but is slower. For glossy papers some might see the difference.

• Color Management – ICM is checked, and under that, in the ICC Profile box, No Color Adjustment is used. Because this setting is used, the curves should work equally well with both Windows and Mac computers.

In general, the "Neutral" curves make prints that look similar to those printed with the sliders set to make neutral prints. However, control via RGB curves gives users more control over print tones. The Red curve (which controls the cyan [warm carbon] ink) and the Green curve (which controls the magenta [cool] ink) have only 3 internal points on them from 75% up to 0%. This allows users to easily change the tones of the highlights and midtones by making off-setting moves of the respective points of these 2 curves. From 75% down more points are often needed. With these also, offsetting moves of the Red and Green curves can be effective in changing the tones.

For some papers I have made Cool and Medium Warm curves. Comparing these curves with the neutral versions indicates the relative tone changes that one can get from offsetting moves of the curves.

The "carbon" tone curves print warm, about half way to a sepia tone. Some people compare its visual impact to the classical platinum print. The curves essentially eliminate all the color pigments and print with only carbon. This gives the most lightfast print possible, because the carbon pigments are more stable than the color pigments.

"Carbon on cotton" (acid-free & buffered paper) is such an appealing visual and archival medium that it can, in my view, stand on its own as a classic B&W medium.

Using curves to control tones also allows one to make split-tone prints by using one curve in one selected area and another curve in the other part of the image.

The curves are listed by paper type.

MATTE PAPERS

Epson Enhanced Matte:

(These curves will probably work well with many matte papers.)

UT7-2200-EEM-Cool-1
UT7-2200-EEM-Neutral-1
UT7-2200-EEM-MedWarm-1
UT7-2200-EEM-Carbon-1
UT7-2200-EEM-Sepia-1
UT7-2200-EEM-LtSepia-1
UT7-2200-EEM-DarkSepia-1
UT7-2200-EEM-LC in Y-Carbon-6 (This is a draft curve for a carbon print when the sepia toner is replaced with the LC carbon ink.)

There are 2 sepia curves for EEM. The Dark Sepia curve has slightly warmer shadow tones.

UT7-2200-PhotoRag-Cool-1
UT7-2200-PhotoRag-Neutral-1
UT7-2200-PhotoRag-MedWarm-1
UT7-2200-PhotoRag-Carbon-1
UT7-2200-PhotoRag-Sepia-1

UT7-2200-UltraSmooth-Cool-1
UT7-2200-UltraSmooth-Neutral-1
UT7-2200-UltraSmooth-MedWarm-1
UT7-2200-UltraSmooth-Carbon-1
UT7-2200-UltraSmooth-Sepia-1

GLOSSY PAPERS – With Eboni Ink Installed in the printer

The UT7 inkset allows printing on glossy papers even when Eboni black ink is installed in the printer. All of the curves below are written with the assumption that this matte black ink is in the printer.

Epson Premium Semigloss, Glossy and Luster Photo Papers:

Media Type: Enhanced Matte Paper

UT7-2200-PremSemiGloss-Cool-1
UT7-2200-PremSemiGloss-Neutral-1
UT7-2200-PremSemiGloss-Carbon-1
UT7-2200-PremSemiGloss-Sepia-1

(These curves do not work on Premium Semimatte.)

Epson Premium Semigloss, as well as the other Epson Premium papers, are the only glossy papers that Wilhelm Research has rated as having dark storage lives of over 200 years. This, combined with excellent fade resistance ratings make these papers the top choice for archival glossy ("RC" or "barrier" paper) prints. Among these papers, the Premium Semigloss, in my opinion, gives the best image, especially when sprayed with an appropriate protective lacquer or fixative.

As with most glossy papers when printed with pigments, these papers exhibit “bronzing” that distracts from the image. The print surface is also very sensitive to abrasion and fingerprints. I recommend three light sprays with PremierArt Print Shield (http://www.premierimagingproducts.com/) to reduce the bronzing and protect the surface. Lyson Print Guard appears to be the same product.

Encapsulating carbon pigments with PremierArt on the front and a “barrier” paper like the Epson Premier Semigloss behind the pigments may be an excellent way to make a more durable, archival print. Air pollution, humidity, and oxidation are primary factors in fading and damaging photos. These air-borne problems can enter the paper through either the front or back. A sprayed barrier paper may be an efficient way to protect the image. While framing under glass gives even more protection, the sprayed glossy print is tough enough to even be cleaned with a damp paper towel.

Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl & Glossy papers:

Media Type: Enhanced Matte Paper

UT7-2200-IlfordSmooth-Neutral-1
UT7-2200-IlfordSmooth-Cool-1
UT7-2200-IlfordSmooth-Carbon-1
UT7-2200-IlfordSmooth-Sepia-1

Ilford Smooth Pearl provides one of the best images and deepest blacks of any paper. It is also very reasonably priced.

The paper has an appropriately thick base but is not archival, being rated by Ilford at 30 years. It is an excellent value if 30 years is a long enough paper life.

Wei T’o brand deacidification spray lightly applied to the back of the print appears to buffer the paper and may extend the life of the print substantially. This has not been tested, however. (See http://www.weito.com/)

PremierArt Print Shield or Lyson print guard/shield spray largely eliminates the “bronzing" on this paper and makes the print surface of this and other glossy prints so tough they can be cleaned with a damp cloth.

Epson Glossy Photo Paper SO41411 (also known as Photo Paper):

This paper prints with a deeper black when the Ink Configuration Color Density is set to +20. This setting is in the Epson driver Properties box. Push the “Ink Config” button at the bottom left of the Properties box, Main tab. The curves below require this setting.

Media Type: Enhanced Matte Paper

UT7-2200-GlossyPP-Neutral-1
UT7-2200-GlossyPP-Cool-1
UT7-2200-GlossyPP-Carbon-1
UT7-2200-GlossyPP-Sepia-1

Note, this widely-available and affordably-priced paper produces a very good image, with none of the artifacts such as “bronzing” that affect most other glossy papers. This is one of the few glossy papers that does not need to be sprayed to look its best. However, a spray like PremierArt Print Shield would still give some additional protection to the surface.

This paper is not as thick as the above paper and is not archival.

As with Ilford Galerie Smooth paper, Wei T’o deacidification spray lightly applied to the back of the print appears to buffer the paper and may extend the life of the print substantially. This has not been tested, however.

Enjoy.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com