I was wondering if anyone has tried the Piezography system for printing B&W with epson printers. I have a 1200, and the system sounds perfect for me, since I only print B&W, but it's a tad pricey so I wanted to hear if anyone has had good/bad experiences with it.

Thanks.

-- Noah Addis (naddis@mindspring.com), May 11, 2002

Answers

Pro's: many papers profiled, plug'n'play solution. Con's: expensive, you need to like warm toned images (I do). The inks tend to clog more than the alternatives.

There are much less expensive alternatives that require some curve- tweaking on your part and use the Epson driver. See www.inksupply.com. Also the FS inks on that page are made to work with the peizo driver, so after the initial expenditure for the driver you can get a much less expensive alternative to the inks.

-- Larry Roohr (lrryr@attbi.com), May 11, 2002.

I've got it, and I love it. I'm not sure, however, since I don't view my prints through a loupe as some do, that it's really worth the difference between the special techniques that inksupply.com has outlined on their site for using the normal Epson driver (so try those first). One thing I wonder if they've dealt with that the piezo system has is the way that the Epson printer drops everything below a certain grey into being a solid black, making islands of solid black in the deepest shadow areas. Whatever, quad inks and a dedicated printer are definitely the way to go for B&W, no question about it. With the inksupply.com FS inks you can even mix the exact tone you want.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), May 11, 2002.

It's my understanding that the system is excellent. I secured samples from the maker, and found them close to silverprints in tonal quality. They did not sample a luster finish which I prefer, so I can't speak to that. However, the system needs to be in fairly constant use or the jets clog, and cleaning them is supposedly a pain. Epson is about to launch the replacement for the 2000P that substantually improves the black and white capibility. It is suppose to have two black cartridges, and a finer microdot, and is also archival. I'm waiting to see what it really does for B&W.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), May 11, 2002.

The official position is that the system isn't for glossy papers. I don't know if they'd extend that to the shiny matte papers or not. The reason is that the inks are pigment, not dye, inks, and there's a slight skin of pigment left on the surface, which is visible on glossy papers. I found that if I was reasonably careful I could wipe this dusty surface of a fresh print gently and remove the scum, leaving a normal-looking print.

I haven't had the clogging problems that others have had. I suspect that what you see on the piezo forum is, as it is here (and moreso on LUG, of course, given the nature of the population) with repair issues of defective new Leicas, highly visible (= highly verbal) but not all that widespread.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), May 12, 2002.

Regarding the clog rate. I have an 1160 with peizo, and a 1200 with MIS VC inks, the peizo clogs and the MIS doesn't. Your mileage may vary.

Larry

-- Larry Roohr (lrryr@attbi.com), May 14, 2002.