I have been asked to join a group exhibition in a local gallery next year. It is for BW images only. I have been printing BW on Photorag308 using Epson 2100 till now and am very happy.
Now that this printer is gone (sold), I'm planning on getting R1800 as most of my prints are on Glossy/Semi glossy surface (I know most of you might suggest getting 2400 but as of now it is not cost-effective for me, I do not manage to sell that many prints.). Which is your favorite paper (glossy) for BW printing and why?
Thank you in advance.
Posted by Guy Tal on November 29, 2006 at 12:25 PM
Personally I still think glossy prints look better on traditional photo paper. Either way, your 2100 would likely have produced better B&W than an R1800 might. I'm not sure why you decided to replace it (a step back in my opinion). The 2100 prints can be sprayed with acrylic to mitigate gloss differential and there are great RIPs available for it (including the Harrington Quadtone RIP for a mere $50).
Guy,
isn't 1800 newer printer? I guess it came out in 2005. Or do you mean something else by a step back.
I print mostly on glossy media (hahnemühle pearl) and recently many people who purchased at the exhibition asked for glossy print (I had few printed on photorag and few on pearl). So decided to get a R1800 which is almost half the cost of 2400 and from what I heard is quite good.
Which one is newer is not really the point here. They are two different products. The R2100 was replaced by the R2400, not the R1800.
The R1800 is optimized for high gloss color prints. It does not have a light black ink so B&W prints will not have the same quality of tones and a much higher potential for color casts. It's great for color since it uses special high-gloss inks and a gloss-optimizer to minimize gloss differential.
Ultimately the R1800 will produce better color prints on RC papers but for everything else (and especially B&W) the R2100 is a better printer.
Ok, so it was not a wrong choice really. My goal was to get a printer specially for glossy (pearl paper mentioned above) color prints. I may end up keeping 2100 for photorag+BW combo. Lets see. Thanks Guy.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on November 29, 2006 at 4:58 PM
Prashan.....I've had a local pro lab print my digital/scanned B&W's for me, instead of doing it myself. They do an excellent job! You might want to check with your local lab to see if they can do the prints for you, and to see if would be cost effective.
Posted by Jasper Doest on November 30, 2006 at 9:40 AM
I own a R1800...and it is doing a superb job for (semi)glossy color prints. Whenever you're printing B+W straight out of Photoshop with this machine it produces a colorcast....I've tried several RIP's and find them very useful for producing quite good B+W prints. For B+W only and color prints on matt paper I'd suggest a 2400 or stick with the 2100.
Discussion
6 repliesNow that this printer is gone (sold), I'm planning on getting R1800 as most of my prints are on Glossy/Semi glossy surface (I know most of you might suggest getting 2400 but as of now it is not cost-effective for me, I do not manage to sell that many prints.). Which is your favorite paper (glossy) for BW printing and why?
Thank you in advance.
Guy
isn't 1800 newer printer? I guess it came out in 2005. Or do you mean something else by a step back.
I print mostly on glossy media (hahnemühle pearl) and recently many people who purchased at the exhibition asked for glossy print (I had few printed on photorag and few on pearl). So decided to get a R1800 which is almost half the cost of 2400 and from what I heard is quite good.
The R1800 is optimized for high gloss color prints. It does not have a light black ink so B&W prints will not have the same quality of tones and a much higher potential for color casts. It's great for color since it uses special high-gloss inks and a gloss-optimizer to minimize gloss differential.
Ultimately the R1800 will produce better color prints on RC papers but for everything else (and especially B&W) the R2100 is a better printer.
Guy