Digital BW, The Print

Tom,

You wrote:

>... could you list a ranking of the black inks
>you have tested in order of their density?

I don't have a readily-available list.  Also, it depends on the paper used.
But, I'll throw out a few thoughts on the inks that come to mind -- and I'm
working form memory.

Excluding the dye inks (Epson then MIS) and the post-coating effects, the
winner is Epson Archival black on Ilford RC paper (the Smooth Pearl is a
winner.)  That said, I think the matte look is better in most circumstances.

For the more normal EAM/EEM the order would be Media Street enhanced K (I
don't know if MIS has an equivalent) as the darkest of the "mostly pigment"
inks.  However, it's only for those who don't care much about fading and
warming.

For EAM/EEM the new high-load, all-pigment inks look to be the best.  Epson
UltraChrome matte black is tops on EEM according to the densitometer, but I
think PiezoTone Museum looks deeper due to it's cooler tone.  (MIS may have
an equivalent, but the fade testing isn't done yet.)  Also, UC Matte black
doesn't do all that well on non-EEM papers.  I have not done enough testing
to know if the Museum black falls on other papers also.

Frankly, MIS VM/FS K on PhotoRag is hard to beat as a combination of depth
of black, lightfastness and ink expense (but the paper is too expensive).

>Also, could you do the same in terms of lightfastness?

Again, I don't really have a list and paper matters.

The UC matte black is the best I've tested, but I think Epson Archival black
is the best in the real world.  The simple light-box testers dry the inks
and eliminate the advantages of the Epson Archival coating.  But in the real
world that coating is probably very important.

The Museum K and MIS equivalent are in the tester now.

After the above inks, the VM/FS black is the best.  It may have some dye in
it, but with the co-solvent pushing the dye around the pigment clumps, it
tests closer to a pure pigment ink than any of the other older black inks.

Media Street enhanced K (25% dye) is fairly far down the list, but not bad
given the amount of dye it has.  For some the greater impact is worth it.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com