RE: Digital negatives for gum printing

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

Hi Keith,

On Sat, 11 Aug 2001, Keith Gerling wrote:


> >Some 3rd party inks are supposed to be incompatible with various of the
> >Epson inks & make godawful mess. Will MIS tell you if OK???
>
> That's news to me, but yes, the people at MIS are pretty helpful.


I think some of the problem is when changing colors (which this wouldn't
be) -- people run days of prints (and cleaning sheets) before it's all the
new, but also apparently things could coagulate or clabber, which doesm't
surprise, given range of types & ingredients.

> ....On my Photo EX I had to modify the spring slightly in
> order to make this process easier.

An act of reckless courage & bravado -- at least to the uninitiated... I
think if some of us "modified" a spring "slightly" could cause the end of
printing as we know it.

> >Doesn't the hole in the cartridge let the sponge dry out?  Do you plug it
> >with anything, or is it so small doesn't matter?  And when you drill,
> >doesn't junk fall into the ink?
>
> I suppose you could put tape over the holes between printing sessions.  The
> sponge will prevent any debris from actually causing problems in the print
> nozzles.

Now that you mention tape, I think someone on Epson list mentioned a kind
of tape that would stick... I can see I've got to dig out that file.
(The Epson list was extremely informative for several months, then began
to seem like 100 e-mails a day about tweaking your curves, or the curves
someone else tweaked for you -- & I managed to tear myself away.)

> ...  I
> started using this process after learning about the various proprietary
> "continuous feed systems" that were being offered.  Come to think of it, why
> don't you investigate a continuous feed system for your 1160?  You get the
> advantage of cheap ink, with the added advantage of customer support from
> the supplier.

>From what I can tell so far, a continuous feed system would be more
trouble than it's worth. Even the cheapest is about $150, and I doubt I'll
use that much black (offbrands come pretty cheap & for negs metamerism,
etc. not a problem) for negatives in my lifetime... There's also fact that
nobody denies they are big hassle (everything on the list not about
tweaking curves was about clearing the leaks, spits and clogs of feed
systems)... More important, I have no place to put it, just barely squeeze
in the printer, which is seriously in the way & always getting knocked
over as it is...

However, the hypodermic seems relatively risk free -- you could start with
just the black, on a cartridge already used up... The needle comes with
the ink?

cheers,

Judy