Digital BW, The Print

Paul,

I agree that the mono-ink print on EAM is a bit to the warm side. 
Nick's print seemed a bit warmer yet because it was on Heavy Weight 
Matte rather than EAM. In my try at this, the tone of the mono-ink 
print seemed similar to the color of the EAM and with the full MIS VM 
quads with the neutral curve the overall tone was cooler as expected 
since the toning ink is in play.
 
Is it possible that the mono-ink print does not show the tone of the 
ink as much as the quad inks from the same black because each dot 
laid down is 100%. As the same ink is diluted with base the color of 
the ink may become more apparent. I would expect that it would be 
more difficult to distinguish colorcasts in a pure black than in a 
mid tone.

Martin




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> 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