Digital Prints

HP then raised the bar even further when it introduced several color/black-and-white
Photosmart photo printers, led by the 7960. This is a desktop inkjet printer with eight
ink colors including a separate cartridge (HP 59 Gray Photo) that includes three different
black densities, which are only available when printing in grayscale mode (see Figure
11.12). This printer is capable of producing excellent black-and-white prints right out of
the box; the primary drawback (besides the high cost of the prints) is the limited output
size (U.S. Letter/Legal).
Integrated Monochromatic Systems
Digital printmakers are used to piecing together black-and-white solutions from different
sources, but there is a trend toward integrated inkjet systems all under one roof. One example
is Jon Cone’s PiezographyBW ICC system that combines monochromatic inks
(PiezoTones) and Piezography ICC profiles on CD-ROM. (Cone also provides a personalized
profiling system through his iQuads program.) In fact, the PiezographyBW ICC
entry (also including Piezography Museum Bright White paper) won the 2004 DIMA
Printer Shoot-Out award in the black-and-white category. It’s currently for select Epson
and soon Canon printers from Inkjet Mall.
Lyson’s Daylight Darkroom digital black-and-white printing system, newly announced at
the time of this writing consists of: (1) Quad Black inks in carts or in bulk feed, (2) printer
driver software licensed from BowHaus, (3) Lyson Darkroom range of inkjet media, (4)
a set of cleaning cartridges for removal of the standard color inks from the printer, and (5)
optional Lyson PrintGuard protection spray. The initial list of supported printers includes
Epson 2200, 7600, and 9600, with plans to expand to the Epson 4000 and newer Canons.
Another system is the combination of Sundance Septone inks and R9 PixelPixasso RIP
software. It provides wide variation in tonal representation using simple software adjustments.
Adjustment of the degree of “warmth” and “coolness” over three density channels
is available within the ICQ settings of PixelPixasso.“ The PixelPixasso RIP, which supports
the Epson 2200 and Epson 7600/9600 as Septone printers is Windows-only. PixelPixasso
also supports these printers as ICC CMYK printers and as “pure” 7-channel printers (you
can send them 7-channel RAW files). A Septone Photoshop export plug-in is available for
both Windows and Macintosh. Available from BWGuys.
Chapter 11 ■ Special Printing Techniques 357
Figure 11.12 The HP Photosmart
7960 Photo Printer has a special 3black
cartridge (#59) that kicks in when
the printer outputs in Grayscale mode.