Digital BW, The Print

>Could you scan and e-mail to me a 21-step test file print done with the vm
>inkset/workflow so that I can see what the problem looks like with you
>system?  If you are interested, I'm sure people on the forum will mail some
>test strips to you so that you can see if it's just your printer, the 1160
>in general, or the entire approach that produces the results you find
>objectionable.

Paul -

Thanks for the kind offer, but having you look at a scan of a step wedge
doesn't really address the problem, which is that _I_ don't like what the
prints of my own pictures look like when I'm holding them in my hand. If
the difficulty lies in my particular 1160, I'm out of luck: I'm sure those
printers are even more difficult to find than they were six weeks ago, when
I paid 50% over list for the one I'm using. If it's the 1160 in general, I
may as well just get a 1280, print with the K cartridge at 2880 dpi, and
warn everyone to frame the prints facing _toward_ the wall so they don't
fade... If it's the entire approach... but I'm already acting on that
assumption.

Todd Flashner has offered to send one of _his_ prints so I can see it in
the flesh, and I think that will be a better way of judging the process. If
his results look wonderful, _then_ I can try to duplicate his procedure and
see where the problem crops up.

>>... For black-only, I want the intensity of the
>>Epson OEM black cartridge with better stability,
>>at least behind glass or in a plastic sleeve in the dark.

>The blacker they are, the more they fade and color shift.

I was afraid of that...

I think that the
>Piezo and VM/FS blacks are the best combination. .... if they are
>dark enough for you, the pigmented Pzo/VM/FS ink will give you about as good
>a stability as there is.
>One step blacker is the Generations black.  It may contain substantial dye,
>however, and it does fade and color shift more than the Pzo/VM/FS black, in
>my tests.  However, I'd assume it is still much more stable than the Epson
>black.  After all, I think Generations inkset is up to "75 years" in its
>fade testing results.

The Piezo and VM/FS inks are not black enough for me, but I have one
cartridge of the new Generations black (we're talking about the "Enhanced
beta" version, right?) on order. And I'll be happy with 75 years of fade
resistance for the prints.

Thank you again for taking so much time over this.

-- Nick

NICHOLAS HARTMANN                                +1 (414) 271-4890
611 N. Broadway, Suite 509                  fax: +1 (414) 271-4892
Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA                       polyglot@...

Technical and scientific translator:  German and French -> English