Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...>
To: "DigitalB&WPrint" <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 1:04 AM
Subject: [Digital BW] solvent?


> Matt,
>
> >... MIS FS inks ...
>
> >Question:
>
> >there is a solvent smell from the prints for a bit after printing.
> >I didn't think these were solvent based inks.
>
> The black ink has been described to me as a "co-solvent" ink.  It has a
> strong smell.  There is a volatile solvent in there, probably in addition
to
> water.  As I understand it, the co-solvent is one reason this ink does so
> well in terms of blackness and longevity compared to many other black
> pigmented inks.
>
> I do, however, think that the more volatile co-solvent could lead to more
> problems with clogging and evaporation through CIS lines if the printer is
> used infrequently.  For that reason, when I designed the variable-tone/mix
> inkset that MIS now sells, I made sure it would also work with the older,
> non-co-solvent MIS archival black.  It is less black, but prints well with
> the vm curves, especially if you put a "94" in the "95" box of the Epson
> driver "Transfer Function."
>
> The MIS VM and FS blacks are the same.  This ink is also essentially the
> same as the original PiezoBW black ink.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com

Like in water based silkscreen inks an extra solvent added (ethylene glycol,
isopropyle glycol) doesn't have to mean that the ink will be more volatile.
The isopropyle will make it less volatile. The evaporation characteristics
of the solvents when mixed together isn't a simple add and divide end result
either, the curves of evaporation in time will look more complex too.. That
is with silkscreen inks but I don't think it will be much different with
inkjet inks. I doubt I still have an article on that subject somewhere but
it is worth a try to look for it.

Ernst