Digital BW, The Print

"durling@..." <durling@...> wrote:

>... 
> Paul Roark is doing some research into dye based inks in 
> addition to his pigment ink research.  You can read about
> his experiments on his web site: http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/

There are, as usual, a number of options with respect to using the dyes.  Illustrative of my opinion with respect to quality is that I went to make a custom Valentine's card for my wife using my normal Eboni-4 Plus inkset in the 1400.  (See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eboni-4-Plus.pdf )  The "Plus" is a 2-position (C and LC) channel that can have a variety of different inks.  The default inks are MIS UT14 C (a neutralized PK) and LC (a neutral-cool LK).  They are pre-loaded, ready to go cooled carbon pigments that can make nice neutral-cool glossy prints or be used to tone the Eb4 on matte paper.  At the time I went to make the cards I had HP Z3100 PK and LK in the Plus spots.  The other set of inks I've used in the Plus spots is the Noritsu-Epson-Claria dye mix.

At any rate, I printed a card with the HP neutral glossy inks.  I thought the card just looked awful with the bronzing and veiled dark shades.  So, I pulled the HP inks out and put in the dye mix.  What a difference.  (Note that this was on high-gloss Red River metalic pearl card stock -- see http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66lb-polar-pearl-metallic-inkjet-photo-paper.html .  For a more subdued look with little bronzing, the UT14 inks or HP inks mixed with MIS glop make a every good choice.)

To make it easier to put together a full inkset, I'm going to edit the current PDF -- http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/N-BW-VT-1-220.pdf -- to make it into a generic, easier to mix approach that ought to work in many Epson printers.  Of course, this is not for the top fine art or other archival uses, but for fun and great looks, it's hard to beat.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com