>Well this isn't my area of expertise but logic says if you are turning off
>the color and just using the black cartridge, the 800 would work better
>because it is 1440 x 720 Using a 6 color printer doesn't buy you anything
>in the case of making black negatives.
Not necessarily. In my experience, using "double black" (i.e., using all
colors to make black plus the black) gives deeper negs than black alone,
which tends to be thin on transparencies (and often on reflective
materials, as well).
Note to Dick: in a previous post you noted that the ALPS negs I had made
had more artifacts than Epson negs. Two points (1) the prints you made from
the neg didn't show the artifacts (roughness of paper, I guess), and (2)
those negs were made with an older ALPS (no longer on the market) the
MD2000. The ALPS MD-2300 is better, and uses permanent pigments (well, more
permanent than inks). As to more colors meaning better quality, true CMYK
should be able to do the job; the "more colors" bit is an end-run in an
attempt to do a job for which 40-bit color is needed! Note that chemically
produced color materials are only CMY, relying on multiple layers of
tweaked colors to approximate the colors desired. The day is coming when
the "public" will accept the softness provided by computer printing, along
with considering microscopic artifacts as a fact of life, or even macro
artifacts as a new art form! The reaction to the final result is what
counts, not how long the originator required to produce it or the
techniques used. Knowledge of techniques is important, of course, as the
art can't be consummated until the techniques are mastered. But the
perception of the viewer is the important factor!
Sil Horwitz, FPSA
Technical Editor, PSA Journal
silh@iag.net
Visit http://www.psa-photo.org/