R2400, Permajet CIS and ICC profiles

I have just had 2 full weekends of photography. Out with the camera and back home producing very satisfying prints. I have managed to move forward a long way from where I was the day I carried my new CIS into the house.

All my efforts so far have been with black and white printing, though I hope to move onto colour prints in the near future. I had some minor panics with ink which were my own fault but were also important lessons too. The CIS system is not quite as straight forward as Permajet make out, it requires care when the black inks are swapped, but provided I follow a routine it is not an issue.

I was pleased that I had a bespoke profile made for Permajet's FB gloss. It taught me that the Epson advanced B&W printing was not producing the best shadow detail, even with the Epson inks. I am not an expert in B&W printing and my initial impressions with the R2400 and Advanced B&W were "wow". However, when I saw what a professionally produced ICC profile could produce it was a case of "wow squared!" I produced a step wedge that has faint numbers showing in the blacks and whites to enable me to detect at what level detail would show in the print. This was enlightening and taught me that I had unknowingly been living with blocked in shadows. Some one more expert would probably have realised this long before I did!

My problem then was that I like to use matt papers for colour and the new gloss papers for B&W. I want to proof on the cheaper Espon papers and also try newer papers such as the Harman Gloss FB Al when they are released. I could not bare to compromise. I mean, I've got a superb camera, calibrated monitor, great printer, fantastic choice of papers and only one missing link! So (oh dear) I bought a PrintFix Pro.

This profiling device allows you to produce "extended grey" profiles for black and white work. I am still learning about the process but have already made progress. I have produced my own profiles that match my Permajet bespoke profile benchmark, but not without some effort. Things are never straight forward! The profiling device requires careful use in order to get good data, and then you have to fine tune the profile to suit your needs. It took me a while to realise that judicious use of contrast control and cross tinting gave me what I liked. I have to say that despite the effort that I seem to have had to make, I am very pleased with my prints. After years of shooting on Velvia and getting Cibachromes made at BDP, to produce prints of such quality at home is beyond my expectations.

Today I made a profile for the above mentioned Harman paper and after a bit of tweaking (I used about four A4 sheets) I am happy with it. I haven't yet made an opinion about the paper as yet, time will tell.

This is the step wedge that I produced. There are many versions of this sort of thing on the web, but I decided to make my own anyway. There are actually faint numbers in the top blocks, at both the white and the black ends. These represent nearly white and nearly black details in a print. With a good profile and close scrutiny, I can determine the numbers in all but the very darkest and lightest patches.