Digital BW, The Print

I must say that for casual prints -- cards, snapshots, even 13" panoramas dry-mounted and intended for display (but not for sale; these are gifts) -- I use the 1400 with the standard color ink arrangement.  With a half Black Only, half LM,LC, and Y QTR profile for B&W and the standard printer "Color Controls" for color, the B&W and color prints Claria & Noritsu dyes are capable of are, visually, outstanding -- no pigment artifacts and amazing on metallic paper. (See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1400-Claria-BW.pdf)  I don't consider these prints fine art due to longevity issues.  (I don't spray these prints.  Wilhelm appears to have found the colors react to differently to sprays that the color shifts increased.) I have also noted that I could not use the dye approach in the gallery due to color constancy/metamerism issues.  But one is only aware of this if they are next to a carbon print or some other reference that does not exhibit the problems.  With Noritsu dyes (now occasionally available on eBay for rather cheap), this system will scale to any Epson printer.  The dyes worked fine in the 4000.

That said, I think for those who want their B&W to be in the "fine art" league, the best way to go is to use the maximum amount & number of carbon pigments and the toughest color toners available, if any.

I have suggested to MIS that their glossy carbons plus standard LM and LC (open source) makes the most flexible B&W inkset that is capable of being quite economical (their's would use MIS LM and LC), while also giving those who want the best longevity that option.  Note that on Arches paper, MIS's glossy carbon is less than 1 Lab B unit warmer than Eboni.  So, my favorite medium -- carbon on Arches uncoated cotton paper -- would still be available.  In fact, so little color is needed to make a visually neutral print with this combination that I might actually go that route.

I think all pigments exhibit some of the bronzing and gloss differential on "glossy" papers, but the MIS carbons seem to be the best in this regard.  With the sepia tone (100% carbon) on Museo Silver Rag that I use for the museum restorations, I see no artifacts at all.  Looking at some Red River Polar Pearl prints, I can see that the inked areas have a reflection that is slightly bronze compared to the paper base.  Interestingly, the satin seems to exhibit more than the glossy.  For areas that are inked, the level and color of the bronzing seems fairly uniform.  So, what it amounts to is a slight bronzing with it's visibility mostly at the paper white, gloss differential end of the scale.  

I don't have enough experience with the baryta papers to know how they look.

Overall, my take on the bronzing is that it's mild enough to not be concerned with.  I have not considered using glop at all. 

In fact, I currently have a yellow ink in the 4000, thinking that the brightness of most glossy papers (particularly the borders) is more of an issue than bronzing or gloss differential.  I've been trying to match prints in a display area where my main product is the carbon on natural matte paper, and that has turned out to be a major challenge.  I'm not sure it works at all.  If I were not displaying prints side-by-side, I'd ignore the yellow ink idea.

Of course, the MIS glossy carbons are not as clog-free as the dilute Eboni-6 inks.  (Eboni MK, being a high load ink, will clog.)  I do try to run the 4000 weekly with these inks.  When left for several weeks unused, it took several cleaning cycles to get it going again.  The good news is that I don't have to agitate the MIS glossy carbons.  In my centrifuge tests they were more stable than Epson gray inks.

I think my bottom line is that the 6K + LM and LC makes the most flexible B&W inkset that I'd be comfortable with.  If I had one printer and needed to do matte and glossy, with total tone control, that would be the approach.  It's a serious contender.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "pdesmidt tds.net" <pdesmidt@...> wrote:
>
> Since I'm going to have to start from scratch with my 4880, I'm going
> to investigate some ink sets developed since I settled on Paul's
> Carbon-6 ink on Epson's Hot Press Natural awhile ago.
> While it's an excellent combination, I still long for a glossier
> approach for some images. This brings me to Paul's newer
> glossy-compatible ink sets, such as his 6K + LC & LM and   5K + LC,
> LM, & Y ink sets.  In particular, do they show gloss differential or
> bronzing?  What papers work best with them?
>