Digital BW, The Print

I have previously mentioned that I occasionally notice increased unevenness
in the "high-load" black pigs I've been printing.  I think I've made some
progress with these now.

The short answer is that turning off "High Speed" printing on my 1160 seems
to get rid of the vertical lines/marks that have appeared in some of my dark
black skies.

As background, what I call "high-load" pigments are those that use one of
the new bases that allows pigmented inks to carry a higher content of
pigment.  Whereas the older pigments contained up to about 3% pigment, the
new ones are up in the 6% to higher range.  The UltraChromes and the
PiezoTone Museum black are currently-available samples that come to mind,
but these pigments will be increasingly available.

The good news with respect to the high-load pigments includes the increased
gamut of the color pigs and the deeper black that can be achieved without
any dye.

The bad news may be increase sensitivity to damage that this big pile of
pigment on the paper causes.  I think this puts the image at greater risk of
physical abrasion, among other things.  (I may spray a light archival
fixative on even my matte images to protect them.)

The vertical lines I've been seeing in my black skies may be mechanical
marks put on a more-exposed pile of pigments on the surface of the paper.
With the "High Speed" off these pigs, perhaps, have more time to dry and
thus resist damage done by the 1160's rollers.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com