Digital BW, The Print

Jerry Olson wrote:

> ...I've had MIS VM ink prints on display in my home since they came
> out. I see no fading at all under roomlight conditions. ...

Jeff wrote:

>I have used the MIS VM inks and have seen VAST warming ...

The VM base inks are the old MIS quad inks.  They warm rather quickly, but
then they stabilize and the underlying pigments seem to be OK for a long
time.  I have some original MIS quad prints on second-rate paper on my walls
that look fine -- warmer than new, but when not side-by-side with a cooler
print, they don't seem too brown.

>... I am almost positive the reason that you [Jerry] see less
>warming than other users is because you make your prints with
>the cooler curves and the blue toner ink warms much less
>over time.

I think that is a significant factor.  The cyan pigment used in the toner is
very fade resistant.

>On a side note: I also have some color prints ... printed on
>Epson semi gloss with Epson 1160 OEM inks. Over the same time
>period or more.. the prints have not shown ANY fading / color
>shifts. This comparison really goes against what I would have expected!

They may not appear to warm as much as the quads, and that may be the most
striking visual change in the prints.  In a neutral print the eye is
amazingly sensitive to color tints and changes, when compared to a standard,
un-changed print.  Bright colors mask small changes.  That is why even the
best color inksets are so hard to control when trying to make a neutral/B&W
print.

On the fading issue, the black dye might fade the fastest.  So, the initial
dye burn-out of the older quads could well be faster than the dye fading of
the color prints.  However, once the small amount of dyes are burned out,
the pigmented quads will last much longer.  That is, the changes are not
linear with the pigmented inksets.  There is an initial rapid change period
as the dyes burn off.  Then the prints go into a much slower fade rate.
With the dye inksets, the relatively rapid fading continues.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com