Digital BW, The Print

Truman's post left me with the impression that he wanted to print on, 
if anything, the cool side of neutral. So I didn't try to warm him up 
to MIS's Variable Mix (VM) Sepia - Neutral. I've been using 
Sepia-Neutral since MIS began to take orders for it on the telephone 
(not InkSupply.com) several months ago. But I'm enthusiastic about 
Sepia-Neutral's possibilities.

I got S-N because I have old photos, mostly old family photos, to 
re-print. Few of them were Sepia, but whatever they were they no 
longer are, and most of them, even if they weren't warm to begin 
with, have faded to some degree of warm. And with some of these, the 
tone used in re-printing them seems to me to have a lot to do with 
the effectiveness of the re-print.

Most of my re-prints are for others. I sometimes print four 4x5's, 
one from each of Paul's four VM curves, on a single letter-sized 
sheet. And ask them to choose the one they prefer. Typically they 
have a strong preference for one of the four or, if for two, for two 
adjacent in terms of warmth. And not infrequently, more than one 
member of the family will agree on the same one of the four.

So I think tone may matter, at least in this limited sense and 
context, although I wouldn't say the other tones don't also work, 
especially since I not infrequently prefer one of them!

Incidentally, the Sepia-Neutral's neutral is a very nice neutral, and 
I think S-N has many uses for art prints as well as for old photos, 
partly because it can print nicely muted, subtle colors if you 
experiment with the work flow of Paul's which is an InkSupply.com 
download, as are the curves.

Adjusted or not, the VM work flows don't seem to me to be much work. 
And I've been using the MIS inks - but not daily by any means - for 
several months now without any clogs to speak of. Perfect nozzle 
checks are routine. About every two weeks a step or two is skipped 
and I have to do a single clean. Early on I had what I think must 
have been an air bubble incidental to installation. But even it 
wasn't much trouble: more skips and I think two cleans, maybe three.

Sam


>[snip]
>Truman,
>
>Your post got me to thinking.  I never really liked warm toned prints in the
>past, but the Piezo inks came in only one flavor (original piezo inks)
>and--I've grown pretty darn used to them--to the point where I actually like
>them.
>
>So on a percentage basis, I would say that the "tone" of the photograph, to
>me, accounts for about 1-2% of the effectiveness of the image. If the image
>works, it works. And I think it will work in MIS FS, MIS FS neutral,
>Piezotone warm and Piezotone selenium. Though sepia may be a bit of a
>departure here.
>
>That said, I really like the ease of use of the piezo software, and the
>speed which it runs my printer as well.  The tonal ramping of the software
>is quite good considering that we're spraying 4 densities of ink on paper.
>It's the least fuss alternative with the most time getting good prints.
>
>I've seen paul's work with his variable tone curves and it is stunning, but
>a bit more work to do.  And it may be a little less of a wysiwyg workflow as
>well, I'm not sure. I like paul's prints cool and warm but I do like them
>even on the same image, so I can learn to love either when necessary.
>
>Oh yes, you "need advise".  I guess I advise the piezo software, but of
>course, it just my opinion.  If you've got the money and time, try em all!
>
>-Bruce
>
>Visit my website at:
>http://home.earthlink.net/~smthopr