I just started experimenting with digital printing mainly because I don't have to wait for the sun to go down to turn my kitchen into a dark room. I use Adobe Photoshop 4 and have a Lexmark 5700 inkjet printer. I plan on getting one of the Epson printers since it seems like they are the best affordable printers for photographs from what I read. I also have a book called "The Digital Darkroom Black and White Techniques using Photoshop". The book says to change to grayscale mode but it prints with vertical lines through the photo. RGB mode seems to print a better quality photo but I'm getting like a purpleish tint. I've played around with the Hue/Saturation control but I can't seem to figure it out. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

-- Steven Gordon (sagjrny@hotmail.com), October 31, 1999

Answers

Reproducing black and white using color inks is problematic. I recently received some Luminos quad-tone black inks from Calumet, but haven't had a chance to test them because my scanner died and is awaiting replacement. I'm getting some black-and-white negatives drum scanned next weekend and will run some tests after that.

I have an Epson Photo Stylus 750, and it produces stunning color. For B&W work I plan to keep the images in RGB mode to match my calibrated monitor, and use the quad-tone inks. Paper choice makes a huge difference too. Luminos just announced a series of fiber based inkjet papers which I look forward to trying.

Contact me directly if you want more info.

-- Darron Spohn (sspohn@concentric.net), November 06, 1999.

hi steve, i also seem to be in the minority as far as printers are concerned. i purchased a budget lexmark z-11 recently. i find it produces adequate colors, but i am having problems getting acceptable black and white prints as well. just using the black ink cartridge will give you the lines running through the image no matter what you do, i have found. and i also find i get varrying color casts when i use the photo ink or plain color cartridge (however, your lexmark may use different cartridges than my cheapo). several previous posts have suggested printing in duo tone or tri tone mode, which i plan on trying as soon as i get a new color cartridge. all i can say is that i wish i had researched a little more before my purchase, as an epson printer purchase is on my immediate horizon. well, not much help i know, just wanted to let ya know you're not alone in the lexmark boat. good luck. Jerry

-- Jerry Hazard (hazard01@earthlink.net), November 23, 1999.