Epson 1400 and Digital Negatives for Alt

[sanking]

OK, this is a very preliminary report based on just a few hours of work with the Epson 1400, so don't hold me to it down the line.

1. I am going to preface everthing by saying that I can not come close to printing a grayscale gray, so something may be off.

2. The Claria inks do not have high UV absorption. A green that prints with maximum transmssion density in UV of 2.22 on the Epson 2200 and 2.38 on the 3800 prints with UV density of about 1.15 on the 1400.

3. However, printing in grayscale resulted in a transmission density in UV of about 1.85. This is plenty for most UV sensitive processes, including carbon, kallitype and pt./pd. Marginal for albumen and salted paper, but there may be a way to lay more ink down.

4. I mention the possibillity of laying more ink down because the Claria inks dry very fast, even on the inexpensive PhotoWarehouse OHP.

5. The definition, or resolution if you will, of the 1400 is superior to that of my 2200. On both photo paper and on OHP I can see better definition.

6. First observations of some test carbon prints on smooth surface photo paper show a very smooth tonal quality. Much better than I was able to get with the Epson 2200 with any color. About the same I saw in my work tests with Don Hutton's Epson 3800.

Not drawing any conclusions yet.

Sandy

[jd callow]

Thanks for the preliminary report. I look forward to hearing more.

[sanking]

Thanks for the preliminary report. I look forward to hearing more.

OK, but this is really kind of kinky.

I am working with a digital step wedge that prints in perentage of density in Photoshop, from 0% to 100%. OK, I just measured a print from the Epson 1400 on OHP with my densitometer. Values in log density readings.

Green Mode
Step 0-- 0.04
Step50 -- .33
Step 100 -- 2.34

Blue Mode
Step 0 -- 0.05
Step 50 -- 0.34
Step 100 -- 2.34

UV
Step 0 -- 0.07
Step 50 -- .44
Step 100 -- 1.80

This really has me scratching my head. For what it is worth, my densitomer reads as follows.

Green -- Center wave length at 543 nm, maximum bandwith of 54 nm.

Blue -- Center wave length at 458 nm, maximum bandwith of 57 nm

UV -- Center wave length of 373 nm, maximum bandwith of 60 nm

Moreover, I am getting in actual tests of UV sensitive processes much more contrast than would be suggested by negative measurements in UV mode with my densitomete.


Sandy

[Donald Miller]

OK, but this is really kind of kinky.

I am working with a digital step wedge that prints in perentage of density in Photoshop, from 0% to 100%. OK, I just measured a print from the Epson 1400 on OHP with my densitometer. Values in log density readings.

Green Mode
Step 0-- 0.04
Step50 -- .33
Step 100 -- 2.34

Blue Mode
Step 0 -- 0.05
Step 50 -- 0.34
Step 100 -- 2.34

UV
Step 0 -- 0.07
Step 50 -- .44
Step 100 -- 1.80

This really has me scratching my head. For what it is worth, my densitomer reads as follows.

Green -- Center wave length at 543 nm, maximum bandwith of 54 nm.

Blue -- Center wave length at 458 nm, maximum bandwith of 57 nm

UV -- Center wave length of 373 nm, maximum bandwith of 60 nm

Moreover, I am getting in actual tests of UV sensitive processes much more contrast than would be suggested by negative measurements in UV mode with my densitomete.


Sandy

Thanks Sandy, whatever the cause of this discrepency ends up being, it sounds like this printer should work for printing digital negs for Pt-pd. Have you noticed any of the venetian blind effect?

[sanking]

Thanks Sandy, whatever the cause of this discrepency ends up being, it sounds like this printer should work for printing digital negs for Pt-pd. Have you noticed any of the venetian blind effect?

Hi Don,

Yes, if you print your RGB file on screen and print it with color inks with maximum resolulution you get a B&W negative (well, with some reddish color) with a maximum transmission density in the UV of about 1.8. This is good enough for carbon, kallitype and pt./pd. So at this point you can map input and output values and develop a curve. As chance would have it, the DR of 1.8 is almost exactly what I have been using with the 2200, but with a Green branch color.

The major issue with the 1400 is that it will not allow you full use of Mark Nelson's PDN system for alternative printing, since that is based on matching the ES of your process to a specific color combination. There is simply not not enough UV transmission density with the spectral density path.

I have not tested yet for the Venetian blind issue. Unfortunately this is something that develop over time with Epson printers and is not always there when the printer is new.

Sandy

[sanking]

Don, (and anyone else interested)

I ran a few tests today with the Epson 1400 and Ilford Multigrade paper. I first determined that the ES of this paper, with my light source and no filter, is about 1.60. A print of the color palette of PDN showed that no PDN color would produce enough density, so I first printed a RGB desaturated 102 step tablet in color, which gives a mostly black looking negative. A print on Multigrade showed that the black negative produces way too much contrast, which was anticipated since a blue channel reading of the negative gave a reading of 2.40. That could be adjusted in the curve, but it would be very abrupt and far from ideal. Also, there was some type of visible dithering pattern visible in the mid-tones.

I figured that some other combination could be used to lower the contrast and read the densities of a print-out of MK-S' red-green array that he sent me a few days ago. There were several matches at maximum density of about 1.65 so I printed out one with R=32, G=32, B=0. That gave almost exactly the right contrast, and lots of sharpness, and no dithering pattern, but the mid-tones have a lot more grain than matching tones from a silver gelatin step wedge printed alongside the digital step tablet. I did another step wedge with R=128, G=48, but the dithering pattern came back. I plan to try a Red-Blue and Green-Blue combination, but unfortunately am about to run out of Ilford Multigrade.

BTW, these are printing artifacts are not something you would see on a color or B&W print. They result from the particular way in which the CMYK colors on the Pictorico substrate interact with the exposing light. In any event, there are probably about thirty combinations with a maximum density of about 1.6 and hopefully one of them will print smoothly.

Sandy

[Donald Miller]

Sandy, Thanks for your efforts on this. This gives me enough hope to move forward with this. I am leaving for Italy at the end of March and anticipate moving into this for my small negatives when I return. If silver remains problematic at that time, I will move into Pd.

[sanking]

Sandy, Thanks for your efforts on this. This gives me enough hope to move forward with this. I am leaving for Italy at the end of March and anticipate moving into this for my small negatives when I return. If silver remains problematic at that time, I will move into Pd.

Don,

Turns out that we may have to treat VC silver and graded papers as entirely different beasts. I ran out of VC paper and picked up a pack of graded Ilford Galerie and printed the R=32, G=32 and B=0 combination on it. This combination resulted in a rather grainy look with VC papers, but it is very smooth with the graded paper. The smoothness is in fact very close to those of the comparison step wedge that I printed alongside it. You could definitely make silver prints with this combination that would compare nicely to silver prints from silver negatives.

So maybe the graded paper route is the way to go with silver. And of course, you have complete control of contrast with the negative so the variable contrast thing is not an issue.

Sandy

[sanking]

I verified the first tests on graded Ilford Paper (Galerie 2) and the results were just as positive as the first time. The tones are very smooth, not quite what you would see on silver paper from a contact print, but better by far than what you would see from a 16X20 silver print from a 4X5 medium speed B&W negative. I never came close to this quality with the Epson 2200 on AZO.

Bear in mind, this is with the R=32, G=32 and B=0 combination, which gives a maximum density of about 1.65 on Ultrafine and just a tad more on Pictorico. This very closely matches the exposure scale of the Ilford Ilfobrom Galerie FB 2 that I used for the test, developed in Ansco 130 1:2.

So I think for printing on graded silver papers the Epson 1400 looks to be a real winner, and at a very attractive price. It is a minor inconvenience, at least for me, that it can not be used with Mark Nelson's PDN system, but I will post my findings and curves for folks to play with if there is interest.

Sandy King

[rogein]

So I think for printing on graded silver papers the Epson 1400 looks to be a real winner, and at a very attractive price. It is a minor inconvenience, at least for me, that it can not be used with Mark Nelson's PDN system, but I will post my findings and curves for folks to play with if there is interest.

I'd be interested. Thanks!

-roger