Digital BW, The Print

There have been several comments about how neutral the black-ink-only
printing is.  However, according to my scanner, (and eyes) the MIS VM black
is not entirely neutral (at least on EAM), it's medium warm with a touch of
green.

Comparing essentially same-density areas (about 50%) of a VM black-only test
strip to the full MIS VM (variable-tone) inkset, both on EAM, these are the
RGB readings I get:

VM Black-only RGB = 121/123/117.

MIS VM (variable-tone vmq-mw curve on 1160) RGB = 125/125/121

I look at visual "warmth" as the red channel being more than the blue
channel.  The unit differences are what appears to matter, not percentage
differences.  Here, the two are the same -- red is 4 units more than blue.
So, I'd call the VM black-only print medium warm.

Looking at the green channel, the black-only has a touch of green compared
to the variable-tone -- the green channel is up 2 units, relative to the
other channels, compared to the variable-tone test strip.

The VM black-only print will look neutral compared to the standard MIS quads
because it is a different black than used in the standard MIS quads.  The VM
black is essentially the same as Piezo black.

In the MIS VM midtones, it is the standard MIS black that is used, diluted
in the cyan, and toned with light archival cyan and magenta pigments in the
toner.  There are no other colors added to the VM inkset.

I think the MIS quad black was best as a base for the VM midtones, in part,
because the VM (Piezo-equivalent) black, as great as it is for a black ink,
does have more green in it -- meaning it's shade is more green.  I do not
think there are any colors added to either the VM black or the MIS standard
quad black or midtones.  It's just a question of the tone of the black
colorant that covers the carbon particles and how it all looks on the
particular paper.

Given the differences in papers (and remember also the warm-shifting) it is
impossible to have an ink be neutral for all papers and ages.  That is one
reason I felt the availability of the sliders in the variable-tone inksets
was important.  Each person can tune the inks to the color (within the
cool-warm range of the inkset) that fits the paper and individual
preferences.

Just my 2 bits worth ...

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com