In this newsletter, I am focusing on the Epson 1400 as a Piezography printer. The Epson 1400 is a current sub $300 printer which offers some of the highest technology ever introduced in an Epson printer.

This is a brand new Piezography product I purposely built for the EPSON 1400 printer. It includes a unique ink set, new version profiles, and soft proofing. It also is the first Piezography product to support my new JonCone Studio papers. This is a wonderful opportunity to purchase a superior and yet affordable solution.

A little about the Epson 1400 printer

If you look at the specs of this printer, it is easy to see that this is one of the best printing platforms currently in the Epson stable. Picoliter drop size is a tiny 1.5. This is the printer that can do with six inks, what other Epson models do with seven and eight. The Epson 1400 printer produces prints up to 13” x 19” utilizing an extremely high-resolution DX5 MicroPiezo® print head which produces up to 5 variable sized dots. With a drop size of only 1.5 picoliters, this printer requires only six-ink cartridges yet produces what Epson calls “awe-inspiring images” that enable photographers to “realize the full potential of today's newer DSLRs.” At $299, this is the printer to take stock of.

JonCone Studio inks

I am first, a printmaker. I've been a Master Printer since 1980 when Cone Editions Press was founded. I have my own personal studio I call JonCone Studio in which I design printmaking process and inkjet inks for special clients. I also use my studio for making prints of my own work. The Special Edition of ink that I have made for this new system is something I use for my own photographs. I like neutral highlights and prefer selenium toning which deepens into warm dark shadows and a good crisp black. It's my own extended version of traditional printing which is imitative of the best things I love about silver printing, platinum printing, bleaching, and selenium toning. If you are a new customer or an existing customer, you will not have seen a Piezography print like this before.

The Special Edition centers around this unique blend of inks. In the past we offered split-tone by varying the choice of inks. The customer could select some sepia cartridges and some neutral cartridges. When I began experimenting with this printer for my own work, I decided to specifically blend new inks to make perfect transitions. I spent a lot of time producing prints which really satisfied my eye; changing the ink formula and finally perfecting the results.

If you would like to see a sample print of the Special Edition 1400 inks please send us your name and address in an email by clicking here.

New version profiles

This is the first system in several years which I took over complete control of every aspect of development. While its not a quantum leap such as PiezographyBW ICC was over the PiezographyBW. Piezography Special Edition uses a new profiling system which I have built in house specifically for the 1400. My opinion is that these are the smoothest output profiles ever. The dMax has been improved overall on many different types of papers. These are 256 point averaged ink curves for extremely accurate linearization.

The Epson 1400 being profiled with the Piezography profiler which produces 256 point curves for each of the six Piezography shades. The CIS system easily feeds ink to the print heads. The CIS can easily be removed when you want to return the printer to color inks. The CIS carts will remained sealed once they are removed.

I have also been able to reduce the ink load dramatically. The 1400 uses at least 40% less ink than a 2200 or 2400 and produces a smoother print! The transitions and linearization are in my opinion, the best ever produced for Piezography.

Downloading QuadTone RIP version 2.6 or higher will include profiles for the following papers. I have included their dMax by L value in parenthesis:

Epson Enhanced Matte (1.571)
Epson Velvet Fine Art (1.615)
Hahnemuhle German Etching (1.647)
Hahnemuhle Museum Etching (1.644)
Hahnemuhle Natural Art Duo (1.687)
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag (1.678)
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bright White (1.673)
Hahnemuhle White Velvet (1.640)
Inkpress Picture Rag Cool Tone (1.541)
Inkpress Picture Rag Warm Tone (1.564)
Innova Cold Press Texture Natural White (1.620)
Innova Fiba Print White Matte (1.580)
Innova Smooth Cotton High White (1.600)
Innova Smooth Cotton Natural White ()
JonCone Studio Type 1 (1.630)
JonCone Studio Type 2 (1.624)
JonCone Studio Type 3 (1.650)
Moab Entrada Bright (1.584)
Moab Entrada Natural (1.561)

A complete set of softproofing ICC profiles are included which can be used with Photoshop to preview your image on a calibrated monitor. You will see the subtle blend of inks, and the contrast of the black represented as the equivalent of its reflected paper value rather than the extremely deep black of a transmissive light monitor. Likewise you can see the actual color of the printing paper rather than extremely bright white of your monitor. Soft proofing tries to simulate on a monitor, what the printed results look like as if you are looking at the printed piece on your monitor. Soft proofing is as accurate as the quality of your monitor calibration. You do not print through these ICC profiles. They are only used to convert an image on a calibrated monitor to make it look like the printed results of Piezography Special Editions Inks on the supported papers.

To buy this system now please click on this link. Piezography Special Edition for the Epson 1400 includes everything you need to transform the Epson 1400 into a high-fidelity, archival black & white printmaking system:

• Set of six 4oz bottles Piezography 100% B&W pigment ink, blended by Jon Cone to replicate a gentle split-tone featuring crisp neutral highlights, melding into selenium, which melds into sepia shadows, and finally into black.
  
• Easy to install Continuous Ink Supply system.
  
• Sample 8.5 x 11 sheets of new JonCone Studio papers.
  
• CD-ROM with instructions, QuadTone RIP curve set profiles for popular papers from (Epson, Hahnemuhle, Inkpress, Innova, JonCone Studio, and Moab,) and SoftProof ICC profiles for same papers.

Only $370.00

Happy Printing!

Jon Cone