R800 driver crippled for BO printing?

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO. Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile, print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled this capability with the R800.

E2200 dialog box also says you cannot print 'photos' with black only.. but it works if you force it.
Stuart

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

--
not for professional black and white results.

Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida

I have both the Epson 1270 and 2200 and both are capable of BO printing. What about the R800?

Stuart said:

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Seems irrelevant whether it is marketed as a consumer, prosumer, or professional model. I don't know of any previous epson printers in any class that were NOT capable of printing BO. As for getting "professional B&W results", the R800 has the potential to produce very high quality B&W prints that exceed the quality of BO prints from the 2200/7600 class of printers because of the significantly smaller drop size (if the driver works properly).

Greg Gebhardt said:

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

--
not for professional black and white results.

Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida

Click to expand...

Carl Schofield said:

Greg Gebhardt said:

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

--
not for professional black and white results.

Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--

out of my 2200 untill I got the Grey Balancer. After that there was no problem. Epson did not intend this r800 printer to do what you want so I see no reason to expect it too. Getting made a Epson because it won't let you do what the printer was not designed for is . . . .

Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida

This thread from Vincent's forum deals with black only printing:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.pl?s=4039c3d277e8ffff ;act=ST;f=40;t=43
--
Chris R

Yes, I've seen that thread before. Apparently Ed is the only person there that has actually tried making a BO print and based on his results when black ink is specified in the driver (Mac - USA version) the printer still uses color inks as well.

Chris R-UK said:

This thread from Vincent's forum deals with black only printing:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.pl?s=4039c3d277e8ffff ;act=ST;f=40;t=43
--
Chris R

Click to expand...

This is for PC,I have no idea about OX?.

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/download2/list/PX-G900.html

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

How granular is the output?

Bruce

EJS said:

This is for PC,I have no idea about OX?.

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below
is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop
searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and
right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of
the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your
R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

Click to expand...

Using Matte Paper and Photo RPM(uses the 1.5pl dot size) no grain at all.

Bruce Oudekerk said:

Bruce

EJS said:

This is for PC,I have no idea about OX?.

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below
is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop
searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and
right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of
the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your
R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sounds like an easy solution for BO printing. I am not at my computer right now but I will try this later. I was wondering is there any other differences between this driver and the one on the Epson US site?

EJS said:

Bruce Oudekerk said:

Bruce

EJS said:

This is for PC,I have no idea about OX?.

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below
is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop
searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and
right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of
the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your
R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Thanks EJS. I wonder why the USA driver (at least Mac OS X) lacks this capability?

EJS said:

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below
is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop
searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and
right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of
the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your
R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/download2/list/PX-G900.html

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The US drivers more often than not have the most media and profile choices.If you use the PXG900 driver pick the type of paper you are using and apply the US R800 profile.All should work well.If you'd like to try Japan's profiles here's the link.

http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/products/pim/plugin_psd.htm#os_win

PXG900=R800
PM4000PX=2200
PM3700=1280
PMD750=R300
PMG700=R200

Carl Schofield said:

EJS said:

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below
is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop
searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and
right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of
the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your
R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/download2/list/PX-G900.html

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I also will be trying this. My R800 will be coming Fri or Sat and I am excited about its possibilities.

I had one of the first Epson Stylus Color 800 printers, which was a breakthrough inkjet in it's own right (they are still selling the 1520 which is a variation of it). I independently discovered, along with thousands of others, that I could successfully print B&W using color for superior results long before Epson knew it was a better idea. Now B&W printing is so commonly done in color on off the shelf inkjets that a few “pioneers” are now attempting to actually do BO printing on the new R800. This is so ironic that it should take an Epson 800 of some sort to come full circle.

Bruce

DennyG said:

EJS said:

Bruce Oudekerk said:

Bruce

EJS said:

This is for PC,I have no idea about OX?.

The Japanese version of the R800 allows BO printing.The link below
is where to downlod the PXG900 driver.

It will install in english on an english operating system.

When the install cannot find the PXG900 printer click to stop
searching and manually select port and continue the installation.

When the driver has finished installing open the printer folder and
right click on the PXG900 icon and select properties.At the top of
the screne click on port.Change the PXG900 to the same port as your
R800.

Now when you wish BO printing use the PXG900 and not the R800.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

At the Japanese down load site I clicked on the download icon to the right of the box that says XP driver version 5.33.

The next screen in red with letter A is the single file download g9053d.exe.I chose this and not the multiple files for floppy disks.

I downloaded and decompressed to the desktop.

When decompression finishes a pop up asks to install the driver,OK or NO.I chose OK.

The blue PRINTER UTILITY SETUP window opens a installation begins.

Next is another pop up,click on stop searching.Another pop up may appear about OPERATION COULD NOT BE COMPLETED and quickly disappear.

The next pop up screen will say PRINTER PORT SET TO PORT.

Installation will be completed.

Now click on the STARt button and open the PRINTERS AND FAXES.

Right click on the PX G900 icon and hit properties.

Click on ports and change the PX G900's port to the same one the R800 is on.

Print a test and you're done.

Now when your desire is for some BO printing use the PX G900 with your R800 profiles.

Carl Schofield said:

Has anyone been able to print using the black ink only (BO) with
either the PC or Mac drivers and the Epson R800? Two people have
told me that the driver appears to be incapable of printing BO.
Simple test to try is open a grayscale image (preferably a 21 step
wedge) and assign either gray gamma 2.2 or 20% dot gain profile,
print using "same as source" for print space in the driver, set
driver to use black ink, and highest possible resolution. Look at
the print with a loupe and see if it using only the black ink or
all of the color inks as well. BO printing with the 2200 produces
very nice prints for some images and the smaller drop size of the
R800 should do even better. Would be a pity if Epson has disabled
this capability with the R800.

Click to expand...