RE: RE: Digital negatives for gum printing

[Keith Gerling <kgerling@ameritech.net>]

I'm excited by what I am hearing from many of you concerning the Cone
process.  Even though I still have my doubts as to whether the Cone
multitone on Pictorico process might not be overkill for printing gums,
you've piqued my interest.   It is my understanding that Jon Cone's process
only uses his inks, and that these are quite expensive.  I am wondering if
anybody can give a rough estimate on what it would cost to print a set of
four negatives, say 11 " 14" using the Cone inks and Pictorico.  Also, is
this process fairly easy and reliable to use?  My problem with Epson (and
judging by the volume of inquiries on the Epson printer list, I'm not alone)
is one of unreliability on the part of the printer.  Speaking from
experience, I would have to estimate that less that half of the ink that I
currently use with my Epson printers goes onto usable negatives.  The rest
is spent on banded prints, prints where a nozzle clogs halfway through, and
with cleaning cycles.  With Epson offering new printers every other month,
does Cone offer upgrade paths?  That is, can I buy the 1160 version and
upgrade affordably to another model?

Keith