Digital BW, The Print

Kevin wrote:

>...isn't it true that the tonal range of vm inksets
>will suffer somewhat since one of the colours is a toner?? so lighter tones
>on the print might not appear as smooth as FS-neutral ones?

In theory, I suppose the more inks the better.  In fact, one of the things
that got me interested in the variable tone concept was that Jon Cone
mentioned in a post that only 3 inks were needed.  So, I tested the concept
by simply eliminating the lightest gray and printing some images with the
second lightest gray going all the way up the scale.  (It takes knowing how
to write partitioning curves to do this, but it's not too hard.)  I found
that I could not tell the difference in the prints.  So, I concluded that 3
gray inks were, indeed, enough.  That, of course, meant that there was an
extra spot for a toner.  (The lightest ink in the vm systems is between the
two lightest in the FS/Piezo systems.)

Some do see the dots in the MIS VM inkset prints done with the neutral and
cool curves when using the 1160 printer.  However, from what I have been
able to tell, what they are seeing is the blue toner.  (I don't see the dots
in normal prints and under normal viewing conditions.)  In the "warm"
prints, where there is no toner in the highlights, I have not heard people
say they see the dots.

One reason I prefer the vm-s inkset is that in my landscapes, where I'll be
using a neutral tone, I use almost no toner in the highlights.  So, even the
people with their noses in the prints will have trouble seeing even the big
3000 dots.

But, of course, some people are more sensitive to this than others.  I do,
of course, see the dots with a loupe, but I'm not trying to avoid people
finding out that my prints are digital.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com

_________________________________





-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin [mailto:imaginaryapple@...]
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 3:51 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Epson 1160 and which MIS ink?


>Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 15:06:04 -0700
>From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...>
>Subject: Epson 1160 and which MIS ink?
>
>The gray ink in the vm-s inkset is the FS-N ink.  The FS-N ink is a hair
>cool, so I put in just a bit of sepia toner (via the "neutral curve") to
>make a dead neutral print.  I think it is the most neutral print I've seen
>yet.
>
>Note that I use an 1160 with a PC.  If you are using a Mac, the curves may
>need a bit of adjustment.  (I have not seen a Mac/vm-s/1160 print.)
>
>Paul
>http://www.PaulRoark.com