Smieglitz@aol.com
Date: 05/28/01-12:12:34 PM Z
In a message dated 05/28/2001 10:28:12, you wrote:
<<Joe, I also have some concern about the ink that this system uses. Being a
carbon based pigment and considering the difficulty you are/have been
experiencing, is there reason to believe that other papers/films would
experience similar difficulties? Or, is it just the particular film you are
using?
>>
Nick,
I've just started using this product *for a purpose it was not designed for*
and have only met the minor problem of the ink not adhering to the Pictorico
OHP transparency material and the density problem on the transparency.. I
suspect a similar problem might exist on other transparency materials, but
Pictorico is the best I've used so far (3M, Epson, and a couple other brands
have been tried with the Epson inks in the past). I believe a light coating
of Krylon will fix that problem. *As far as the prints go, I'm very happy
with the results*, it's just the transparency material I have to tweak.
There apparently is some warming of the ink when applied to certain papers (I
think Legion Concorde Rag is one) but that warning and paper recommendations
are given at the vendor's site.
I've been through a Cone workshop in March and was generally pleased with it.
Cone does try to push his products, but that is understandable. His staff
was friendly, helpful, and knowledgable (especially Larry). I saw many
samples at the workshop, picked up a few Photoshop tips, learned about
calibration and color management and came back with a few nice prints.
I have several examples of quadtone prints from George DeWolff and Cone, as
well as the personal images I obtained at the workshop. I've seen side by
side comparisons of Cone's products with others and seen examples of his fade
tests. He is quick to point out the limitations of his materials and that of
others. It was apparent on the fade test prints that his color inkset did
not have as large a gamut as some other products, that some fading and color
shifts could occur with his inks, but the examples I saw showed they held up
better in terms of lightfastness, fading, metamerism and had less color shift
over time than his competitors' products. Maybe new products from MIS might
have an edge but I had no reservations about Cone's products when I left the
workshop. I can't say that about the Epson or Luminos products. I think
he's got the best thing going right now and certainly worth the $1000
investment made for the 1160 printer, piezography software, and continuous
ink supply compared to the other available products.
As far as the ICC profiles, I obtained the set for the 1160 and several other
printers we use at school gratis with the workshop (as well as several drum
scans on CD and the prints I've mentioned previously), so I was pleased with
all that as well. The ICC profiles are available for purchase at his site
and having seen and used examples, I'd say the investment is well worth it.
I observed how the profiles were determined at the workshop and note the Cone
runs new tests constantly (probably 24/7) and has stacks of hundreds of
permutations of printers, inks and papers.
Cone is obviously in it to make a buck, but he's also a very interesting
character. A Sufi/Artist/CEO/Gourmet Chef/Family Man/transplant to Vermont
from the city/Volunteer Fireman in the village and I think vegan as well. My
take on him was that his research was driven for his own art and then
secondarily, to support his sort of comfortable rural bohemian lifestyle. I
don't think he's a snake oil salesman, but he has a lot of irons in the fire
so you might get more satisfactory contact with one of his staff. (And just
in case you are wondering, I have no affiliation with Cone or his companies.
I'm just a satisfied customer.)
The 20x24 quadtone print I brought back from the workshop was run on an Epson
7000 (or maybe 7500, I don't recall) and it took about 50 minutes to be
printed. Think I was on a G4 going through his network which might have
slowed things abit, but it should give you some idea of the printer speed. I
think the grayscale file was around 30MB.
Joe
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