Digital BW, The Print

Stephen,

>Has Paul done fade testing on the Generations enhanced black?
>How much higher is the Dmax compared to the MIS black?

A test of the "Indelible" black that included the Gen K is in the Files
section. The Gen k is not as lightfast as the MIS FS/VM K, but it's much
darker -- about 1.82 v. 1.65 (depending on printer).

Many of my tests have black inks in them, but I've never done a single test
with all the best blacks and papers of choice in a single, truly comparable
run of the fader.  So, Robert Morrison is printing abbreviated test strips
(just 100% - 75%) using a number of black inks -- and only black ink -- and
on a number of the best papers.  I'll stick all 12 of these combinations in
the fader at once so that we can eliminate the extraneous variables that
might affect comparisons of one fader run to another.

So, we'll have some much more accurate and comparable results in the
not-too-distant future.

That said, my impression from the various tests I've run is that, on EAM,
Gen K is the best choice for those who really want a deeper black than the
MIS VM/FS K can make.  (Note that paper choice can affect the depth of
blacks substantially.)  The Gen K, with it's 25% dye, will definitely fade
and warm more, but if deep black is more important to you than light
fastness, it is a good option to try.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com