B&W - Which Ink Set & RIP

[CobyPhoto]

I am looking into converting an Epson 7600 Printer to dedicated Black & White. I have done alot of reading on RIP's and Ink Sets that are dedicated to this.

For those that use them, which ink set would you recommend (and RIP) and why?

Thanks!
CJ

[jeffkohn]

I've done quite a bit of B/W printing, but can't really justify having a separate printer for it so I've made do with the 2400 which can produce excellent results with it's multiple gray inks.

So I haven't used any of the dedicated monochrome inksets. I have used QuadTone RIP though, and have been very satisified with the results. Using it with my 2400 gives me control over individual inks used, as well as better linearity (especially in the shadows) and better grayscale tracking.

QuadTone RIP supports several of the dedicated B/W inksets, and for most of them I think there are a pretty good selection of curves so that you don't have to create your own if you don't want. See http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRrequire.html.

The downside to QTR is that there really aren't any layout capabilities. It's fine for one-off prints, but you can forget more complicated layouts such as multiple smaller prints on a larger page, contact sheets, etc.

[johnastovall]

I have an Epson 1280 for B&W only and I use MIS inks and the QuadTone RIP.

I would like to try Lysonic but haven't need to order any ink in a while.