Article: A Variable Tone Ink Set for the Epson R200/220

What Inks To Use How They Work In Practical Use

The WorkFlow Driver Settings Typical Work Sequence Final Remarks

Introduction

The combination of the inexpensive Epson R200/220 printers and the
UT-R2 grayscale pigment ink sets designed for them by Paul Roark and sold by MIS, has been as revolutionary for digital black and white printing, in its own way, as the introduction of the K3 printers. With this combination it is now possible to make very fine quality BW prints with a low entrance fee, in terms of both money and ease of use.

There are two versions of the R2 inks, R2-W (warm) and R2-N (neutral). The R2-W inks are all pure carbon, with no toners. They are the most lightfast and archival, and produce very warm toned prints. The R2-N inks are, except for the Black, all cool toned, and produce prints that are cooler than what I consider to be neutral. The documentation for these inks states that they may be combined in various ways to get tones that are between the two extremes. But there is no mention of making a variable tone ink set from them. Variable tone on this type of printer is usually associated with using RIPS, complex curves and color management techniques.

This article will describe how to make an R2 variable tone ink set that can be controlled with the CMY slider controls in the Epson driver, avoiding the need for a RIP or color management curves. The resulting tonal range is limited, but, as with BO printing, various papers can move the ink further in either direction, giving us quite a wide range of possibilities. The big advantage is that it allows us to fine tune the tone, rather than being locked into a single color, or having to switch inks to get some other fixed tone which may also be not completely satisfactory.

What Inks To Use

The MIS web page at http://www.inksupply.com/utr2.cfm has separate sections for the Warm and Neutral inks, and also for pre-filled cartridges and in bulk. The variable tone ink set is made using the C, LC and Y inks from the Neutral set, and the M and LM inks from the Warm set. The black (K) is the same for both. Use Eboni for Matte paper and PK for glossy papers. Here is a chart showing the catalog numbers for these inks, for carts and 4 oz. bottles:

Ink	Cartridge	4 oz. Bottle	Description
K	R2-T0481-K	UT-QUAD-4-K	Eboni Black for matte papers
K	R2-T0481-PK	R2PKN-4-PK	Photo Black for glossy papers
C	R2N-T0482-C	R2NTL-4-C	Cool Cyan from R2-N
LC	R2N-T0485-LC	R2NTL-4-LC	Cool Lt Cyan from R2-N
M	R2W-T0483-M	R2WRM-4-M	Warm Magenta from R2-W
LM	R2W-T0486-LM	R2WRM-4-LM	Warm Lt Magenta from R2-W
Y	R2N-T0484-Y (Same ink as LC)	R2NTL-4-Y (Same ink as LC)	Cool Yellow from R2-N (or use LC ink)

Please note that the Yellow ink is the same ink that is used in the Lt Cyan position. If you are buying bulk inks, buying only the LC ink can reduce the initial cost.

Back To Top

How They work

This ink set contains six inks in three different densities:

1 dark density ink - K

2 medium density inks - C (cool) and M (warm)

3 light density inks - LC and Y (cool) and LM (warm )

This chart shows the inks and their attributes in the order they are arranged in the printer:

           Medium Density
        cool           warm
           ______________
          |              |
    K     C      LC      M      LM      Y
black           |______________|______|
                cool           warm   cool
                        Light Density

Some things worth noting

- both Cyans are cool, both Magentas are warm

- the medium and light densities each have cool and warm inks

- the cool inks are toned

- the warm inks are pure carbon

- Half of the inks are pure carbon (K, M and LM). The cool inks (C, LC and Y) are toned with a combination of Cyan and R800 Blue which, according to Paul Roark, are the most stable of toner pigments. None of the less stable magenta toner is used anywhere. So this is an extremely good archival ink set.

The Slider Controls

There are three sliders for controlling the colors, C, M and Y. The center position is zero, and they range from -25 to +25, as shown in this screen shot:

The Cyan slider increases or decreases the amount of C and LC. The M slider increases or decreases the amount of M and LM. The Y slider affects only the Y ink. Notice that we have separate controls for the warm and cool inks. This is what allows us to control the tone.

Back To Top

Changing The Ramp

Changing the slider settings has one other effect which we can use to our advantage. Decreasing the value changes the ramp in such a way as to open up the shadows. It does this by delaying the drop into the darker zones. Increasing the value has the opposite effect: it compresses shadow values by dropping off earlier. Here are three ramps printed with the M and Y sliders at 0, and with C at -25, 0 and +25:

C Slider at -25

C Slider at 0

C Slider at +25

The M and Y sliders have a similar effect. This ability to change the ramp gives us another degree of control, more than we normally would have without using a RIP.

Note: In actual use, moving the Y slider has little practical effect. It does change the ramp a bit, but has little effect on the color, so I never use it for anything. Using it just adds another level of complexity and interferes with the interaction between C and M. So for the rest of this discussion please assume that the Y slider is always at 0.

Here is a summary of these combined effects:

Increasing C = cooler, compresses shadows
Decreasing C = warmer, opens shadows
Increasing M = warmer, compresses shadows
Decreasing M = cooler, opens shadows

In Practical Use

With all sliders at 0 the resulting color on EEM is very close to Eboni BO, slightly warm and close to the center of the warm-cool range. This is good because it means we can use the same papers we use for BO and get similar results. Printing on a cold toned paper such as Kayenta, for example, will automatically produce a cooler print, which can then be fine tuned with the sliders, and the same for warm papers.

Note: If you are more inclined to the warm tones and would like the starting point to be warmer, using the Y ink from R2-W will nudge the ink set in that direction. However, if you like the Eboni BO colors then I recommend this combination. The color requirements vary with the image and the paper, and of the six sample prints made to match their BO counterparts, two were warmed, two were cooled, and two were unchanged. That's splitting it right down the middle.

Some Examples
Adjusting the C and M sliders allows us to go either warmer or cooler with control over the ramp. In addition to the single changes listed above in the summary, they can also be used in combination.

For example, when printing the "Interior" sample print, I wanted to get as close a color match as possible to the Eboni BO sample. The 0/0/0 setting was too cool, so I warmed it by moving C to -10. This was still a tiny bit too cool, but the shadows were beginning to weaken. Rather than decrease C some more, which would further hurt the shadows, to get a bit warmer and restore the shadow density I increased M to +5. The resulting CMY -10/+5/0 setting produced a good match.

With another print I wanted to cool it a bit without changing the ramp, so I increased C by 5 and decreased M the same. The resulting CMY
+5/-5/0 setting did the job very nicely. This symmetric approach, as a general principle, is a good way to handle most tone adjustments. But the asymmetric approach can be useful when contrast changes are needed.

Things To Consider
Using this ink set, in general, tends to darken slightly and reduce the contrast compared to a BO print of the same image. So I usually have to add an adjustment curve to the image for R2 printing to compensate for these effects.

In addition, some settings can have a dulling effect, the "veiled" look that so often accompanies full ink printing techniques. But other settings can really sparkle. So be aware of this and be sure to try several settings. Even a small change can make a difference.

The Workflow

A workflow can be broadly divided into two stages: working up a new image, and making final prints. I do all of my image workup using BO proof printing on the R200. For a complete description of that, including all settings, please see articles #3b and #4. Using BO for proofing gives me good WYSIWYG and provides a uniform and consistent foundation for all images, no matter what technique I use for final prints.

So rather than repeat much of that information, the workflow described here is from the point of view of the second stage: making final prints. The scenario is that we have an image that has already been worked up and proofed. We now want to find the proper settings to make an R2 final print.

A couple of assumptions:
- the image is in grayscale mode

- the image profile is DG20 (or something close to that) and the printer profile is set to "Same As Source" (as per my usual approach as described in the other articles)

Note: All of the following recommendations are for using Matte papers. Some of these will be different for glossy papers, but the same principles will apply.

Driver Settings

These are the settings which I have found produce the best results:

Paper type - Photo Quality Ink Jet Paper.
The other choice for matte papers is "Matte Paper - Heavyweight", but just as with BO printing, PQIJP has a much smoother dither pattern and produces smoother prints. This is for an R200. It may be different for the R220, so be sure to do your own tests.

Quality - Best Photo

High speed - On for proofs, Off for final prints

Black Ink Only - Off

Color Management - Color Controls

Gamma - 1.8
If you have any questions about this, please see articles #3a and #4. This is based upon my normal workflow.

Color Mode - Epson Vivid.
The only difference I can see here is that Standard mode is simply lower in contrast. Since R2 prints need a contrast boost most of the time, I have consistently gotten better prints with Vivid. However, none of this is carved in stone and they sky won't fall if you do your own experiments with other settings. These recommendations are just to help people get started.

Sliders - All at 0 to begin work
Back To Top

Typical Work Sequence

At this point we are working with an image that has already been worked up and proofed using BO. We also have a BO proof print that we want to match as closely as possible (at least for contrast and density, if not for color). This is a typical work sequence:

1) Since some proofs will be required, to save time, High Speed is set On. To save on ink and paper costs, all initial proofs are done on quarter sized sheets, with maximum image dimension of 4".

2) The first print is made with CMY sliders at 0/0/0 . From this print we determine two things:
a) Do we need to change the color?
b) Do we need to add an adjustment curve to the image to change
contrast and/or density?

3) If the answer to 2b is yes, then do that now. Put the curve on a layer, as we never want to alter the master image.

4) If the print needs to be warmed or cooled, adjust the CM sliders accordingly and make the second print. Any color changes we make may influence the the contrast, so there is an interplay between the CM sliders and the adjustment curve. So any subsequent prints will require balancing these two factors. This may sound complex, but I found that after just a few of these prints the process became very intuitive, and I was able to predict the effects of the sliders, both in color and contrast.

5) Make as many proofs as needed to produce the desired result, each time making smaller and smaller CM and curve adjustments. At some point near the end it may be good to make a larger proof in order to make the final tweaks.

6) After it is finalized, make a record of all the settings. I use the Notes Tool in Photoshop to imbed the information in the image file itself, as well as the image memo in I-Trak. Here is a typical entry for three different final print versions in an image that was BO proofed on EEM:

BO Merlin Sm - use BO-Merlin curve

R2 Dourian - use R2-Dourian curve with CMY +5/-5/0

K3 Condor BW - ABW 2h,8v with K3-Condor curve

The above example has three adjustment curves, one for each printing situation. They are never merged, so the master image is left unchanged. The file is saved with all curves disabled, so I only need to activate the one I want before printing.

Note: These are simple adjustment curves on the image, like this example:

These should not be confused with complex icc profiles and RIP linearization curves which I was referring to when I said this method does not need curves.

Final Remarks

This printer and ink combination can produce very high quality archival BW prints. At the time of this writing, the printers can be purchased in the US for around $79, and a set of cartridges from MIS costs around $66 plus shipping. So for about $150 or so, someone just getting started can immediately get into high quality, variable tone, archival BW printing without requiring a RIP, a densitometer or complex color management tools, and will not be dependent on someone else to make paper profiles and icc curves. This was unheard of only a short time ago. It has never been easier to get into quality digital BW printing.

Click Here for Sample R2 Prints