Digital BW, The Print

Hi Bruce,

Good post.  I see another issue...the compressing and combining of the tonal
scale.  If the dark end of the scale fades, and some of the tones then match
the middle of the scale (which they should), you're combining tones, meaning
there is now no separation in tones that used to have a separation.  Also,
you are losing the high end tones relativity to the lower tones.  The
careful tonal curves set-up to make the print in the first place, are now
really for naught.

How do we deal with that?  Should we adjust curves to allow a gap in the
tonal curve actually printed, so the inks don't overlap when the print is
faded?  Should we ask for inks that all fade equally?

Regards,

Austin


> >I created the following poll on the Piezography group relating
> to black ink
> >positions in regards to longevity and aesthetics. Please come
> over and chose
> >your choice.
>
> I just voted.
>
> What seems to be getting lost in the translation is that there is
> fading and there is fading, but that the degree of fade is not the
> only issue.
>
> Given the apparent ability of the Epson Ultrachrome Inks and current
> printers to print neutral grayscale, the best argument for a quad (or
> hex) black ink solution would seem to be not simply less fade, but
> potentially less differential ink fading from a grayscale inkset
> which would cause color tonal shifts over time.
>
> Dmax is not the only issue, as any platinum printer will attest. The
> PiezoTone K problem is not the degree of density fade (as the OD
> tests confirm), but the "warming" of the black in contrast to the
> tonal stability of the grays.
>
> The "warming" of the original Piezo (Sundance) grays was tolerable to
> many as normal "curing" because the final state was pleasant in a
> sepia kind of way.
>
> The "warming" of the PiezoTone K is not acceptable precisely because
> the grays don't warm. The clearest analogy would be the orange
> "gas-fade" of the Epson 1200 inks. If any one ink in a set shifts
> color while the others don't, the effect is much more more
> objectionable than a slight linear loss of density.
>
> Museum Black for me, all the way.