Digital BW, The Print

Michael King <drmrking@...> wrote:
>
> For me the most exciting recent development is QTR support 
> for the x900 printers. 11 ink positions allows a broad range
> of b&w ink set options to be
> supported simultaneously in one printer...

Yes, a "Tri Quad" setup sounds good.

> Just waiting for Roy to release the Windows support...

I hope the R3000 support for Windows is out soon enough for me to use it on the loaner I'll be experiementing with.


Sam McCandless <samcc@...> wrote:
>
> ... My plans are to reprint and document  
> old, small-format B&W family photos ...

I'm a big fan of archiving old photos with the carbon pigments.  

> ... I hope you can  
> include a note about the plans for a session of your and Roy's B&W  
> Photography workshop at the 2012 Golden Trout Natural History Workshop.

I assume it will happen again next year.  Being on the mailing list is the best way to assure that you get notice of it as soon as we open it up for registration -- about the end of January.  For thos interested who are not on the list, just send me a street address off list.


"wattsies67" <wattsie@...> wrote:
>
> One interesting thing that doesn't seem to have got much attention is the fact that some of K3 black and white tests over at Aardenburg seem to be faring a lot better than anyone would have expected ...

For most uses the K3 approach is fine.  There is a reason that is where most of the market is.  You will note that I'm going to be experimenting with an R3000 with OEM inks.

On the other hand, note the little comparison chart I have on page 1 of http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eboni-4-Plus.pdf.  No inkset with color pigments in it can touch the stability of 100% carbon.

Note also the chart Mark has on page 4 of all of his fade test reports at http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/.  There is a huge variance in the amount of light that a print will be exposed to in differing display situations.  60 Mlux-hrs, for example is equal to only 6.8 years of commercial gallery lighting.  For people printing to that market, that is not a very long time.  But the OEM processes are fine for the vast majority of uses.  

There is a lot to be said for the k3 approach, but it is really a color printing approach that just happens to make reasonably good B&W prints also.  For those who are targeting just B&W, it's not a very efficient use of the printer.  

From my perspective, it's fun to be able to make very much more stable prints for very much less money. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com