Digital BW, The Print

Paul,

I am ordering the MIS Archival color inks as soon as they get them in 
cartridges, which, according to MIS will be in 2 weeks. Which black 
should I order with them? All the talk about blacks has me confused. 
I print duotone b/w images which allows me to use color inks and 
helps me avoid all the problems with hextones. Plus, I prefer the 
selenium look to my duotones. I print to a 1280 and use Torchon and 
soon eclipse Satine as soon as it arrives. 
 I don't have any profiles other than the ones that came with the 
printer, do I need profiles if I'm printing duotones? Thank you for 
your continued help, I really appreciate it.

Best regards,

Tim

www.portraitsofnature.net 











--- 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