Digital BW, The Print

Peter,

You wrote:


> ----- Paul Roark wrote: -----
> >My need for a neutral quad that did not warm-shift is what caused me to
make
>> the FS-N formula.  This was the first non-warming B&W inkset.

>... how warm the FS inkset is -- both initially following printing, and
>then after fading/warming has taken place. ...

It's what I'd call medium warm.  It's less warm than the original PiezoBW,
and slightly warmer than a cool/neutral silver print.  I've never compared
it to a warm silver print, but it may be close to that.

I used to test and measure warming with my scanner.  On that 256 scale, the
FS would warm about 8 to 10 of 256 units.  It then stabilizes.

I don't know how to measure the time it takes.  In the fade testing by 300
hours it had completed the warming.  It's a question of how much light it
receives.

>I happen to like the warm look of a selenium-toned or platinum print,

My selenium prints are not warm at all.  So, that is paper dependent.  In
general the selenium prints have a bit of magenta in them that is not in FS.
The FS inkset (pre-warming) is not as warm as platinum print, although they
vary considerably depending on the developer used.  After it warms, the FS
is probably within the platinum print range.  The original MIS quads were
quite close to most of the platinum prints I saw on one trip where I did a
survey of print tones with test strips in hand.  Some of the most expensive
platinum prints I saw in a Taos gallery were more like a dark sepia,
however.

>certainly wouldn't want to sell someone a print that was going to start
fading
>like a comfortable pair of jeans within, say, 5 or 10 years (behind glass,
away
>from direct sunlight).

The fading isn't bad with FS.  However, people will see the warming if the
new and old, or long-term display and dark-storage prints are displayed
side-by-side.

>So because I like a warmer print, my only reasons for
>considering FS-N would be if it truly is a more stable inkset.

The FS and FS-N inksets fade at the same rate.  The warming is much less
with the FS-N, however.


> Also, if regular FS
>appears more brownish than selenium tone,

It is warmer.  I'd say more yellowish than brown, however.  Although after
warming, some call the look brown.

> I might choose FS-N if it provides
>a more traditional-photograph-like appearance in comparison to FS.

The FS-N definitely looks better (under glass) next to my
lightly-selenium-toned Kodak Polymax Fine Art prints.

Have you considered the PiezoTone WN midtones with the FS black?  It's the
most stable medium warm inkset now.  The PiezoTone Selenium midtones have a
good tone, but it is definitely not a warm selenium.  It's more like my
Kodak silver prints and the FS-N, which is slightly cool.

>I suppose that means that FS-N is really my only option then?
>I'm not using the Piezography/R9 software, by the way.

If you are using a hextone machine, then the Piezo inks don't lend
themselves to Epson driver use -- unless you re-arrange the inkset.  You can
make an "FS-E" series equivalent from the PiezoTone inks by diluting the
cyan and magenta for the light/photo positions.  Or, you could just use cyan
in both cyan and magenta positions and use magenta in both the light cyan
and light magenta positions.  You'd have to write your own curves, but such
an inkset takes very little adjustment.  I did this with the FS-N inkset
once and it made quite a good way to go.  You can even use just a grayscale
workflow with the inkset, although mild partitioning still gets smoother
tones.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com