Digital BW, The Print

Lots of action out there today.

Martin wrote:

>...when I read that it is another set of inks
>without software support, I am finding it more annoying. I don't want
>to see another MIS situation where people like Paul have to design
>all the curves with no support from the manufacturer and then
>distribute them for free.

Fear not Martin, I don't "have" to do anything.  I just have a very strange
idea of what is fun.  I really just did this because I was not happy with
the inks and systems that were out there.  However, once I have made a curve
for myself, why not share it?  Once created, it's easy to copy.  Now if
everyone would do the same, we'd have quite a nice system out there.

Some might remember that on the Piezo list some time ago a number of people
were complaining about price.  My comment was that competition is what
controls prices in this country.  The answer was to get a competing system
going.  So, that is part of my effort.  I didn't appreciate Piezo's prices,
so after seeing how well a variable-tone system worked on their inks, I
started to explore MIS's inks.  Cheaper and arguably better works for me.

I hope MIS is doing OK with this.  One of my incentives was to get enough
users so that they'd mix the inks.  At this point, we are just not a huge,
lucrative market.

You'll notice that all the inks can be easily mixed from the standard MIS
quads, and they just happen to be the same densities as the Piezo inks.  Of
course, the toners are also the same, and Generations pigs work virtually
identically to MIS pigs.  So, I hope MIS is making out OK, but I haven't
exactly handed them a monopoly.

What MIS provides to me is the supplies to do all these experiments -- and
when you see the number of empty ink bottles in my darkroom, this is nothing
to sneeze at.  From what I can tell I get straight information from Zeiss
also.  That's worth a lot.  After all, I haven't been at this very long
myself.

Terry wrote:

>...My hope is that through the efforts of Paul, Dan, and the many others
>that I have not mentioned from this list, that these alternative inks
>will gain popularity and thus increase the market to the point that
>the manufacturers are willing to invest the time and money to offer
>these curves...

Well, what I think we really need is for better pigment technology.  We can
write curves, but the pigments themselves need improvement.  The Epson
coated pigs could be a real advance if they were available in bulk, had a
better black, and were simply cheaper.  With current 3rd party quads I might
be able to counteract the warming, but better, more stable inks is really
something that takes a big R&D budget.

However, the goal of getting the industry moving faster so that such quads
become available while I'm still able to use them is a part of the program.

>...
>My thinking when I first came across the curves and inks that Paul
>helped develop was "at this price, I wouldn't be out much if it
>didn't work" - that is when I took the plunge. ...

Exactly.  The software cost of Piezo is a major barrier to many using the
system.  Before the major ink companies will notice, there has to be a very
large market of quad users.

At any rate, it's an interesting time to be a B&W printer.  I think we are
just starting to see what can be done.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com