InkjetMall Newsletter May 8, 2018
7 mayo, 2018 por
InkjetMall Newsletter May 8, 2018
Jon Cone

  • Beware Epson firmaware update designed to knock out 3rd party chips.
  • We have found a solution we can support for the SureColor P6000, P7000, P8000, P9000. (Finally!!)
  • Cone Editions Digital Printmaking Workshops.
  • Jon Cone’s Santa Fe, NM Piezography Workshop.
  • Products on Sale!

EPSON FIRMWARE UPDATE KNOCKS OUT 3RD PARTY INK CARTRIDGES!

An Opinion:

A few weeks ago, I came across a report that WCPO in Cincinnati ran about Epson printer owners who were reporting that a recent Epson firmware update knocked out their printer’s ability to use 3rd party ink cartridges. At about the same time, Epson owners began posting complaints online about firmware disabling use of their printers when using non-Epson brand cartridges. In many of these cases, the Epson users said that a message appeared on their computer display that their printer needed a firmware update which they clicked into. After the update their non-Epson brand cartridges could no longer be used. At that time, the updates that knock out the use of 3rd party appeared to be solely directed towards Expression Premium XP-530, XP-630, XP-640, XP-830 printers that use a 410XL type cartridge.

Now we are hearing from customers who have updated P800s and P400s and these firmware updates are knocking out their ability to use 3rd party chips. In one case, our decoder board for the P800 was rendered useless.

This type of activity is not limited to Epson. HP is facing a huge class-action lawsuit from their attempt (they backtracked and sent fixes to their customers) to render 3rd party cartridges useless. It is clear that more and more instances of this is going to happen here in the USA.

So it begs the question – why would you upgrade your firmware? If the printer is operable – there is precious little to be gained compared to what you may lose.

What can you do to prevent being locked out of your printer?About the only thing you can do is to never opt into any firmware update for your printer if prompted. These messages may take the form of a dialog box when using the OEM software on your computer, or on the LCD control panel of the printer itself.

Further to this, when you are installing a new printer pay attention to all the windows splashing across your screen that you usually dismiss out of habit. One or more of them may be asking you if you would like to opt into important “news and updates” from the OEM. That is the invitation for you to willingly opt into firmware updates which may lock you from use of 3rd party cartridges. You should decline these.

When you go to the Epson site to download a driver it is awfully tempting to just click on the “Combo” package…. But that is exactly where the Opt-In is located and which you might dismiss rather than read. So, download the driver separately. Download the Utility separately.Remember, only you can authorize Epson to knock out your continued use of 3rd party. Read carefully before you click OK or Proceed buttons….

WE HAVE FOUND A SOLUTION WE CAN SUPPORT FOR THE SURECOLOR P6000, P7000, P8000, P9000

We are testing what appears to be a very stable solution for North American models of the Epson SureColor P6000, P7000, P8000, P9000, P10000, and P20000 printers. This is exciting news for USA customers who wish to repair their SureColor large format printers, or use them with an ink supply that the OEM does not offer.

We have been selling our inks into these printer models in Europe and in China for over a year. The Piezography Experience Center is Shanghai, China is powered by SC-P9000 printers. These new printers are the preferred platform for Chinese customers of PiezoDN, Piezography Pro and Piezography K7. But, the USA version of these printers have not been available for use because these printers have been locked in North America against use of non-Epson branded cartridges.

Other vendors have been selling chips and refill carts into North American printers and we have always had the ability to sell the same solutions. However, in our testing these proved to be unstable enough that we believed they might damage our customers printers. So, while we are seldom the first to market, we are almost always the most stable and safest solution in the market. Mostly that has to do with our experience in testing; and that our testing actually mimics the use of these products in the same way our customers would use them. That type of testing takes time.

So, while they are not yet available on our web store, I really could not wait to tell you the exciting news. ConeColor Pro, Piezography, InkThrift inks all perform well on these printers. Also PiezoFlush would become available to repair these printers. It’s a wonderful bit of news to share even if a bit premature.

When?  We should be done testing through them in the next few weeks and hope to have inventory on the shelves by July. Keep your fingers crossed!

This chip is a 700ml chip and it will require the use of 700ml cartridges. We do not believe a 350ml or smaller chip will become available. However, if you are prudently careful you can use smaller quantities of ink provided you are willing to manually track the amount of ink left in the cartridge. Weighing it will be the easiest method for that. The chip always will start from 700ml – so you could give it two charges of 350ml or 3.5 charges from a 220ml bottle.  The chips are one time and you will need to replace when 700ml ink has been printed.

CONE EDITIONS PRESS 2018 DIGITAL PRINT WORKSHOPS

Cone Editions Press Digital Print Workshops is the longest running workshop program in the world. Cone Editions Press pioneered digital printmaking in 1984 and began offering workshops shortly after. Our 2018 Season has begun!

There are dozens of workshops being offered by organizations all around the globe and Cone Editions Digital Print workshops are the only in which printing is the primary activity. It’s everything!  And we’ve assembled quite a teaching staff.

Jon Cone from Coral Gables, FL is the Master Printer of Cone Editions. He’s been involved in digital printmaking longer than anyone else. Cone Editions began in 1980 in Port Chester, NY and began publishing digital projects with painters and photographers in 1984. Besides pioneering digital printmaking in the 1980s, Cone mastered copper plate aquatint photogravure, intaglio, screenprint, and relief print. Jon’s credited with setting up the first 50 fine art inkjet studios in the US, as well as inventing “quad black” inkjet printing in the early 1990s. He’s been a master printer for photographers Richard Avedon, Gregory Colbert and Gordon Parks to name a few, as well for painters Norman Bluhm, Janet Fish, David Humphrey, Lester Johnson and Wolf Kahn.

Cathy Cone from Middletown, OH is the Studio Manager and Creative Director of Cone Editions Press. She leads group critiques during our workshops or/and can provide private one-on-one insight if you prefer. Cathy’s personal painting and printing studio is located above the workshop. She brings a unique approach to digital printmaking constantly asking “what ifs” and “why nots”. Her recent paintings and inkjet constructions are in permanent installation at the new Beekman Art Collection in NYC. Cathy is our permanent artist in residence, and feels equally at home in a painting, etching, or inkjet studio. 

Walker Blackwell from Cabot, VT heads up our software and inks development. He joined us a few years back and brings a wealth of experience to our workshops. He teaches as someone who is intimately familiar with the code in our software (he writes much of it), and also as someone intimate with our inks (because he can often be found elbows deep in our ink production). He makes one heck of a teacher because he is one of our earliest customers dedicating himself to our products, but is also now responsible for their success. Walker has owned his own professional print studio, founded Chicago’s Lattitude, and has managed several other well known studios including Light Work Lab in Syracuse.

Dana Ceccarelli from Corinth, VT is well known by our customers. She has been investigating how to maintain and repair Epson printers about as long as anyone – and possibly longer. Dana has been at Cone Editions Press and InkjetMall for about 15 years and has seen and used about every model of Epson photo and pro printer that has ever been released! Dana has been managing the print production at Cone Editions Press. She prints for visiting artists and photographers and understands the pressures of maintaining a top quality printing environment. 

We are excited to have 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, Pradip Malde to teach a single course. Pradip will teach the Malde-Ware process of printing out platinum/palladium print which will be paired with PiezoDN digital negative calibration to screen display software! Pradip Malde is a photographer and professor at the University of the South, Sewanee, TN, where he is the co-director of the Haiti Institute. Much of his work considers the experience of loss and how it serves as a catalyst for regeneration. He is currently working in rural communities in Haiti, Tanzania and Tennessee, designing models for community development through photography. Works are held in the collections of Museum of the Art Institute, Chicago; Princeton University Museum; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Yale University Museum and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, among others.

If the ultimate experience in printing is what you seek, Cone Editions Press Digital Print workshops are perfect for you. These black & white, color, and alternative process courses are designed for photographers and artists of all levels. This means seasoned veterans working side-by-side with newbies without diminishing the experience for either. Jon and Cathy have so much to share with you, and you will learn tons from the entire staff at Cone Editions Press.

For more information about our workshops that is not covered by our website please call Cathy Cone at (802) 439-5751 ext 101.

Here is our 2018 Schedule:

CONE EDITIONS WORKSHOPS DESCRIPTIONS

We now teach Piezography at two levels.

PIEZOGRAPHY FOR BEGINNERS

This workshop is perfect for you if you’re thinking about getting into higher standard black & white printing or you’ve started off recently in Piezography, or if you’ve been Piezography printing for awhile and now want to seek out some expert practices.

Piezography for Beginners June 4-7
Piezography for Beginners September 17-20

ADVANCED PIEZOGRAPHY PRINTMAKING

This workshop is definitely designed for advanced use of the Piezography system. You should already know how to make a Piezography print but are now ready to learn the real nitty gritty. In Advanced we dig much deep into the software to investigate the creativity tools. We’ll teach how to solve more complex imaging issues as they relate to fine printing.  We’ll also be able to print larger in this workshop, and investigate more individual concerns and issues.

Advanced Piezography Printmaking – May 14-17
Advanced Piezography Printmaking – September 24-27
Advanced Piezography Printmaking – October 22-25


COLOR PRINTING AND STUDIO PRACTICE

This has been one of our most requested workshops to add. We’re well known for our Piezography ink systems. ConeColor Pro inks are actually much more popular. Our inks perform better in many instances than the OEM. They’re reliable in print heads. And we offer some options that the OEM does not. For example, add the new Ultra HD™ Matte Black to any of our supported printer models and you’ll exceed what Epson can by nearly a full stop of dMax.

You’ll learn color management from beginning to end. You’ll learn how to maintain your printer as part of standardizing color management. You’ll learn one on one how to make printer profiles and how to calibrate displays. Then when your display is matching your output you can concentrate on learning imaging and editing techniques that are suited for printing.  We’re going to show you how to replicate a professional print studio at home with the idea that printing what you see on your display does not have to be a hair pulling experience!

We take it further by explaining how we do production at Cone Editions Press to include handling client concerns, proofing and production, archiving, and answer any tough questions you might have for us.

Color Printing and Studio Practice – Aug 20-23
Color Printing and Studio Practice – October 8-11

DIGITAL NEGATIVES THAT WORK

One important difference between PiezoDN and all other digital negative systems is that PiezoDN negs, when contact printed, match your computer display. That’s the holy grail of digital negatives because it allows you to make an image without any compensation curves. You simply adjust your image to your liking, print the PiezoDN negative and contact print it. Regardless of the medium this is how PiezoDN works.

Another benefit that is quite remarkable is that it’s a very easy system to calibrate.

  • With the same system that you would use to make Piezography prints you print our special target onto film using our base digital negative QTR media profile,
  • contact print it when its dry,
  • process and dry the final print.
  • That final print is what gets measured and the data is put into PiezoDN which creates a new QTR media profile.
  • You then print the target a second time with the new QTR media profile, and make a second contact print.
  • When you measure this second print it should be perfectly linear and your final QTR media profile is made.
  • Now all subsequent alternative process prints made from your negatives will match your screen display.
  • It’s really not more complicated than that.

So, whether you ultimately want to make palladium prints or some other medium, the process is the same. We are limiting our darkroom (it’s actually a lightroom lit by non-UV LED panels) to platinum/palladium printing because it is so non-toxic. So, if you’re a seasoned palladium printer there is still much to learn about chemistry (it’s much simpler with our system because contrast agents are not used). And if you’ve never made a palladium print in your life, you’ll leave with prints that will have seasoned printers wondering how you got “there”.  PiezoDN seems to make an expert out of everyone who uses it. 

Digital Negatives that Work – June 25-28
Print-out platinum-palladium and PiezoDN with Pradip Malde – August 13-16
Digital Negatives that Work – October 15-18

SPECIAL WORKSHOP
PRINT-OUT PLATINUM-PALLADIUM AND PIEZODN WITH PRADIP MALDE

The Malde-Ware process is named after inventors Pradip Malde and Dr. Michael Ware. I’ll let Pradip describe it….

This process is renowned for its capacity to activate seemingly homogenous areas of tone. Scrutinizing the platinum/palladium print yields more than the appreciation of technique and materials: it brings to light an intimate and palpable sense of “image.” It seems the more we do this, the less separation there is between oneself, the print, and the photographic “window.” There is a feeling not only of being a part of the world but of being apart from the world, of looking beyond. The more we look at, and consider this kind of photographic print, the more it seems that we are gazing back at ourselves from another’s world. I believe that photographic images as prints have to be compelling. The work has to hold attention. Attention, or being compelled to look at an object (the print), amounts to valuing the subject. Developing value requires immersion, both in the production and reading of the work. It is this kind of sustained attention that builds sufficient energy for us to excavate the links between loss and love, for instance, and begin to answer perpetual questions about what it is to be human.”    –   Pradip Malde

Print-out platinum-palladium and PiezoDN with Pradip Malde – August 13-16

EXPERIMENTAL INKJET PRINTING FOR ARTISTS

Alternative inks, uncoated papers, vellum, inkjet fabric.

This workshop is a creative exploration and experimentation designed to expand the participant’s vocabulary. The purpose is to explore new methodologies and perspectives. We’ll utilize a large variety of substrates and techniques in a digital lab of studio collaborators. If you’re looking for a digital upgrade to your toolbox, this visual smorgasbord is an exciting new workshop offering! If you like hanging out on the cutting edge then this is the workshop for you!!

This would be a perfect workshop for those who consider themselves knowledgable enough about workflows and systems and feel that they can easily adapt to a creative workshop. You should have a basic working knowledge of either Photoshop or and Lightroom. However, it is more important to be comfortable in a creative environment than being digitally competent! (We can do the technical part of printing – it doesn’t change your experience in terms of reflecting on the prints and responding to them.)

Experimental Inkjet Printing for Artists – July 16-19

THE PAINTED PHOTOGRAPH WITH CATHY CONE

I think this workshop is going to be very special. It is the first workshop that we’ve offered in which most of it takes place in Cathy Cone’s painting studio. Most of the printing will be done for participants by Cone Editions. We want those attending this workshop to be wearing aprons rather than writing notes about how things get printed. Bring images and bring things to scan. Get ready to make some work! 

This hands on workshop combines digital printing and water based painting. This is a multi media approach to image making. Experimentation is encouraged with goal of expanding one’s visual vocabulary and tool box. Participants will use gouache, watercolor and drawing materials for layering printed images. The goal is to infuse and inspire your personal practice through the infinite combination of these mediums. The week includes group critiques, discussions and demonstrations. 

The Painted Photograph with Cathy Cone – September 10-13

JON CONE’S PIEZOGRAPHY SANTAFE WORKSHOP JUNE 11-15

The workshop I lead in Santa Fe, New Mexico is called Piezography Reimagined. Piezography is constantly evolving. This workshop allows participants to work with the various systems to find which is best for them. This workshop is 5 days long and has more than enough room for 12 attendees. But, only a few seats are remaining.
 This is a workshop in which tons of printing takes place. So much in fact, that I often find it hard to pull people off printing and onto a demo. The goal of this years workshop is to get into what Piezography Pro offers. It’s a much more contemplative medium now. With a million potential toning combinations I will be showing you some of my favorite Piezography Pro settings. You will be discovering some of your own, and seeing those of your fellow workshop attendees. We will try and do a Platinum Print PiezoDN digital negative demo so you can see that if Alternative Process interests you. 

We plan to introduce you to each of these processes first on the new Epson P400 and then for use on the many workshop printers. The P400 is affordable and our new refillable cartridges are the bomb! Changing ink sets is as easy as changing ink cartridges!

There is always a critique on our last day. It really surprises me how many prints get made during this workshop.

Of course InkjetMall and Don Messec sponsor the Piezography Chile Paella party!  Jon and Don are the chefs!

If you are interested, you need to reserve online at Making Art Safely before it sells out! You can find that here. This workshop is run by Don Messec. Of course, I look forward to meeting you and sharing all things Piezography with you. But, if it sells out I can’t get you in. Oh yes….Bring lots of images to print! And be fairly warned that only a few seats remain!
This workshop is June 11-15, 2018 and it costs $1,393.18 and requires a deposit. You can register directly on Don Messec’s website by clicking here.

PRODUCTS ON SALE!

We added a permanent link to items on Sale at the InkjetMall web store.  There is a menu item called On Sale.  You can find that by clicking here.

We hope that you will check here frequently for sale items!

InkjetMall Newsletter May 8, 2018
Jon Cone
7 mayo, 2018
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