Digital BW, The Print

Hi Mantinieri,


>   I have been working at a clear base for dye ink recently, ... 
> I am attempting to develop an inkjet based platinum print system that requires a base similar to that for dye ink...

Are the platinum compounds in solution, or are they pigments in suspension?  If a pigment, can you get then ground small enough to stay in suspension reasonably well?  It sounds like an interesting project.

>...
> 1) 23% mono-ethylene Glycol - 13% Isopropilyc Alcohol - 64% water ...

I mostly experimented with propylene glycols for the pigment base.  Low toxicity was a main issue there.  I found that as I increased the amount of the glycol, the printing became rougher.



> ... The reason for using HP thermal heads is that platinum compounds are too expensive to be used in the very wasty Epson printing systems, while HP is far more conservative in ink usage. 

Why is that?  Fewer cleaning cycles?

 
> To be honest, I don't fully understand the rational behind so much attention toward dye inks by this community. If you want to produce handout or flyers to give out to potential clients, it seems a very expensive way to make those. ...

I'm not sure what the level of interest is in these dyes.  For me, they make better brochures than do the HP pigments I was using, and they are cheaper than the HP inks.

It's definitely true that MIS inks are cheaper.  On the other hand, artifact free glossy prints do, I think, have uses.  Part of my interest is simply to explore the alternatives.

I have alternated between glossy and matte brochures and cards that I make for other purposes.  What I find is that with indoor lighting the matte prints look great.  In direct sun, however, the deeper glossy dmax makes for a more impressive image. A simple observation is that virtually all photo finishers use glossy paper.  Part of this may be due to the old wet process and advantages of RC papers, but I think much of it is also that most people find glossy snapshots look better.  

For fine art, 100% carbon pigments on cotton paper is and will remain  my medium.

On the other hand, as "HarryB" <hrblaine@...> wrote:
>... "I'm interested for my own amusement.  :-)" 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com