ConeColor K3 inks for diginegs?

[PVia]

I was wondering if anyone has used these inks to produce digital negatives?

Their K3 set is supposed to replicate the Epson K3 set almost exactly and the reviews from people who print on paper are very positive. Ink costs could be greatly contained seeing that 8 oz of ink could refill a cartridge 3 times, yet the total cost is slightly less than 1 Epson cartridge...

Paul

 

[JonCone]

I made a digital negative system that uses Piezography ink. It works on the concept of continuous tone produced by continuous tone density. While I tried paring it with PDN - that felt redundant in that Piezography produces linear film. The system that I used the most is the one for silver print - and it is designed around specific density requirements of the darkroom producing film that has a film base+ fog and a film dMax of either 1.40, 1.50, 1.60, 1.70, or 1.80. Those are selected by a Piezography curve designed for QTR. I use the 1.60 for most Ilford RC and fiber paper. It does require either a dedicated printer or if a supported desktop printer, requires exchanging the color inks for the Piezography Digital Negative ink set. I blogged extensively on this last year and you can check that out here:

Click here for Piezography Digital Negaitves

Or just cut to the final installment which documents all of the Piezography Digital Negative processes by clicking here.

regards,
Jon Cone
Piezography

 

[pschwart]

I was wondering if anyone has used these inks to produce digital negatives?

Their K3 set is supposed to replicate the Epson K3 set almost exactly and the reviews from people who print on paper are very positive. Ink costs could be greatly contained seeing that 8 oz of ink could refill a cartridge 3 times, yet the total cost is slightly less than 1 Epson cartridge...

Paul

Funny you should ask. My 1800 makes great negatives but it has developed a problem, so I just got some of Jon's K3 to run in a 1400. The 1400 also has 1.5 picoliter droplets. It's only a 6-color printer, but my negs only printed with 6 colors on the 1800 because I don't use MK or the gloss optimizer. I'll start testing this weekend. The Claria dye inks in the 1400 block UV so poorly that the printer is useless with the native inks. I am hoping the ConeColor ink does a better job. I will be printing mostly carbon transfer; I use a 3800 for palladium.

 

[davosproject]

I am also interested in your results, even if you could post a print of the QTR ink calibration page at your standard exposure and normal tissue etc. I still want to make colour prints with my printer but a saving on the epson inks would be nice.

Thanks
David

 

[PVia]

Thanks Philip...looking forward to hearing of your direct comparison.

 

[pschwart]

I am also interested in your results, even if you could post a print of the QTR ink calibration page at your standard exposure and normal tissue etc. I still want to make colour prints with my printer but a saving on the epson inks would be nice.

Thanks
David

I'm am planning on trying colorized and composite b&w, but not QTR, at least for this round of testing.

 

[PVia]

Philip, at least you'll get an idea of the UV blocking characteristics...please post when you have some results you'd like to share.

 

[davosproject]

Thats ok. If they work with the epson driver they work with QTR too.

 

[pschwart]

Thats ok. If they work with the epson driver they work with QTR too.

A quick test indicates these inks are not a solution for colorized negatives using the Epson driver -- better than the Claria dye inks, but still insufficient UV blocking. My next test is composite b&w negatives with the Epson driver. I can see this will require MK as negative dmax using PK was only about 1.73 and I am getting over 2.7 on the R1800. There are probably other ink sets I could profile in this printer with QTR (Cone K7?), but I need to get some prints made so I'm not going down that road now. Looks like the Cone inks will turn the 1400 into a nice pigment printer for color paper prints. I bought the 1400 to use as a dedicated b&w printer using monochrome inks with QTR, so that's probably where I will end up.

 

[takomaru]

I have been using Cone Color inkset for a while.The Pk from Epson is not matched.They function well as a color set, but Cone's policy for B&W is K6/7. I have changed the blacks in my inkset to denser blacks from the K7 set and they might be able to get you there. I do suggest you fo ask for a correct combination to the Inkjet Mall, where everyone is extremely helpful. I will be using their K5 set for producing digital negatives as soon as I replace a couple of damaged dampers in my 4800

 

[pschwart]

I have been using Cone Color inkset for a while.The Pk from Epson is not matched.They function well as a color set, but Cone's policy for B&W is K6/7. I have changed the blacks in my inkset to denser blacks from the K7 set and they might be able to get you there. I do suggest you fo ask for a correct combination to the Inkjet Mall, where everyone is extremely helpful. I will be using their K5 set for producing digital negatives as soon as I replace a couple of damaged dampers in my 4800

I agree that there is probably an inkset that will provide good digital negs in the 1400, but I decided to test the color inks so I could avoid using a RIP to profile the inks. A RIP complicates the workflow sufficiently that I would rather avoid that route. Lucky for me, I was able to fix my R1800 so tetsing digital negs from the 1400 is now a lower priority

 

[takomaru]

Philip:

I thought you already had the color inkset. The cost saving is 30% of Epson inks. And just bt switching the 3 black positions, you can calibrate the blacks for a good result. You don't hae to into a RIP, and simply ICC profile. I use different blacks, because I prints stuff that the Epson blacks won't allow, because of their narrow tonal range,especially when printing in warm tone. Bt mixing my own blacks I am ableto output different tonal ranges in B&W printing, like lith-amido/catechol-diluted toning, to produce prints that could only be made from stained or tanned negatives, in the wet lab, from digital, and I don't need a RIP. I do run a Neutral K7 set for matte printing, but also a color one where I change my black dilutions, and through the very large amount of paper textures, I'm able to print dry as I can in a wet lab, and any toning combination. I hope this helps.

 

[pschwart]

The Epson 1400 is a SIX color printer. CMYK LC LM. Only 1 black channel. The current exercise is testing the suitability of the 1400 for making digital negatives. I had already planned on dedicating a 1400 to b&w using a monochrome inkset with a RIP; I have a lot of experience doing this with other printers and inks and I think the 1400 is going to be a fine b&w printer.

 

[takomaru]

I'm sorry if I gave you such a generic info in Cone inks, when you are specifying a 6 color printer for negs, and I do understand that you are experienced in the rest of printers. I only use wide format printers. Good luck. I'm sure you will succeed with the 1400