RE: 870 with generations inks - Any good?

["hankla1" <hankla1@msn.com>]

<x-charset iso-8859-1>>Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 11:28:07 -0700
>From: "Lewis Levin" <lewis_levin@hotmail.com>
>Subject: 870 with Generations ink - Any good?

>I am using the CIS on a 1270.  There are no clogging problems.  I have run
>one nozzle cleaning in two weeks using the Epson driver and it cleans up
>fine.  This is comparable to using OEM inks.

>I would not say I am happy with the output.  The problems seem to stem from
>the paper and the profiles, rather than the ink itself.  It sounds like you
>are happy with your results on the 1200.  May I ask:

>- - what paper are you using?
>- - have you found a satisfactory glossy paper?
>- - what software, hardware, and approach did you use to profiling?

>Thank you.

I concocted my own profile based on initial fairly exhaustive trial and
error as well as a custom Epson 1200 configuration, from the same original
trials, that pretty much nails a print on the head most of the time.
However, I have standardized on one paper, Generations Matte, and one ink,
Generations standard.

I have put in reorders for Generations inks and have specified both times
that I do not want the enhanced inks. I'm not anxious to have to put
together a new profile or printer configuration. If it ain't broke don't fix
it. Art directors and my rep seem to think the prints look great and I tend
to agree. They're certainly a huge cut above my old Cibachrome work. And a
side by side with some dye transfer prints of the same images shows the
Generations prints to be pretty much on par with that former state of the
art, even with my still vastly limited knowledge of Photoshop.

No, I have not found a glossy paper that satisfies me. Not that I'm looking,
mind you. My portfolio prints are under acetate and my framed prints are
under glare free glass. Neither would benefit greatly from a glossy surface.
I'm amazed, really, at the contrast and color saturation Generations matte
and standard Generations inks have. I did increase saturation but only by a
little, in the 1200's printout and I always decrease my gamma, almost always
from 1.00 to .83 when I am getting a digital image or a scanned image of one
of my transparencies ready for printing.

I have decided, by the way, for sheer standardization, to take my spare 1200
with me to Europe and set it up to be a virtual clone of the 1200 here in
Manhattan.

I hope this information helps.


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