Digital BW, The Print

Paul,  thank you for the very clear and detailed response!

On Sat, Aug 11, 2012 at 12:41 PM, Paul <roark.paul@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> 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?
> >
>
>  
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]