There are currently 2 tones or hues of UT-FS inks.

• UT-FSN is the neutral selenium tone ink. It can closely match my lightly-selenium-toned silver prints. (It is the upgrade to the older FSN ink.)

• UT-FS is the warm carbon tone inkset. Carbon pigment inks appear to be the most light-fast and durable. "Carbon on cotton" (buffered, archival paper) may be the best printing system for stable, archival viewing and long term dark storage. I think this is a potentially classic medium. The inkset prints close the old FS inks.

• Caution:   The new UT-FS and UT-FSN inks will not mix with the older FS and FSN inks. When using cartridges on the 860 or 1160, no cleaning or flushing is necessary. When used with Continuous Flow or for Refilling, new virgin empty cartridges are required. When using cartridges with the 3000 or any wide format printer, flushing with MIS Cleaning cartridges is mandatory before installing the UT-FS or UT-FSN cartridges.

EPSON 1160 PRINTER

After you download the 1160utfs.zip file and extracted the files, you should have the following adjustment curves and a copy of this readme file in text format.

1160-UT-FS-GraySscale-EEM.acv
1160-UT-FS-RGB-EEM-1.acv
1160-UT-FS-RGB-EEM-2.acv
1160-UT-FS-RGB-Mild-EEM.acv
1160-UT-FS-RGB-PhotoRag-1.acv
MonoTone-GS-TF1.atf

The UT-FS inks can be printed with a variety of printing procedures or workflows.

• Easy Black & White
  The E-Z B&W approach to the 1160 is to use a UT-FS ink and print grayscale files through the Epson driver from any application. Epson Printer Driver settings should include Matte Paper-Heavyweight, No Color Adjustment and 1440 dpi in the Epson driver. [Properties, Custom, Advanced]

  This approach prints a good ramp that is slightly lighter than some other workflows.

• Photoshop or Picture Window Curves with the 1160 Epson Driver
  Image adjustment curves (transforms) can be applied in certain image editor programs to give more control over these inksets. Photoshop is the graphics industry standard, but expensive. Picture Window is a very affordable and attractive alternative that can use the same curves. (Many consumer photo programs cannot use these curves.) For Picture Window, see Digital Light & Color at http://www.dl-c.com/Temp/ .

  The most control with the Epson driver can be achieved by converting the final grayscale file mode to RGB (color). (Save the final grayscale file before doing this.) However, one can also print a grayscale file to the standard densities on Epson Enhanced (or "Archival") Matte by applying the curve file 1160-UT-GrayScale-EEM.acv.

  AdobeRGB(1998) is the RGB working space that the RGB curves are designed for. (Set in Edit, Color Preferences) In Picture Window the default color space works.

  • 1160-UT-FS-RGB-EEM-Partition is a traditional Photoshop partitioning curve. It is for Epson Enhanced Matte, but works quite well with many matte papers. Full partitioning makes gives the smoothest highlights, allows for more local tone controls, but may also be more sensitive to ink and paper variances.

  • 1160-UT-FS-RGB-EEM-Mild is a new approach. I call it a "mild" partitioning curve. I believe it will be much more tolerant of printer, paper, and ink variations.

  • 1160-UT-FS-RGB-PhotoRag is a partitioned curve for PhotoRag paper - still the cotton standard due to its higher dmax.

  While these are new curves written for the UT-FS inkset, the older curves may also work well.

• PIEZO - R9 DRIVER

  The 1160 and 3000 print the UT-FS inks very well with the Piezo-R9 Photoshop plug-in, but with a lower dmax (maximum black). On the 3000, some think the plug-in gives slightly smoother tones. The program also has profiles for a number of papers, but it does not allow the user as much control for profiling new or different papers.

EPSON 3000 PRINTER

The 3000 was the first and still is the most affordable route to high quality 16 by 20 inch B&W prints. The printer has larger dots than the 1160 or more modern printers, so it requires a partitioned printing workflow - either RGB curves or the Piezo-R9 driver. While this printer is being replaced by the much more modern Epson 4000, the 3000 can make monotone B&W matte prints that are first rate.

3k-UT-FS-EEM-NCA-BLF-1.acv
3k-UT-FS-EEM-NCA-BLF-2.acv
3k-UT-FS-EEM-NCA-BLF-B-1.acv
3k-UT-FS-EEM-NCA-BLF-B-2.acv
3k-UT-FS-EEM-NCA-BLF-B-3.acv
3k-UT-FS-PhotoRag-NCA-BLF-1.acv
3k-UT-FS-PhotoRag-NCA-BLF-2.acv
3k-UT-FS-PremierMat-NCA-BLF-2.acv

RGB Curves that I have made for the 3000 and UT-FS inks are shown below.

The printer Driver Settings should include: paper type set to "Back Light Film" (BLF), and color management set to "No Color Adjustment" (NCA) checked.

• 3k-UT-FS-EEM-NCA-BLF-1 & 2 are slightly different versions of partitioning curves for Epson Enhanced (or "Archival") Matte paper. Number 1 may be a bit smoother, but number 2 is an alternative curve.

• 3k-UT-FS-PhotoRag-NCA-BLF- 1 & 2 & 3 are alternative curves for PhotoRag paper, with 1 being a little smoother.

• 3k-UT-FS-PremierMat-NCA-BLF-1 & 2 are alternatives for Premier Imaging's Premier Matte paper. Photo Warehouse carries this acid-free but very reasonably priced paper. There may be changes in the coating that affect these curves.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com