Digital BW, The Print

Jerry,

>...I usually use your NC Cool curve, or the Cool curve.

>On Aspen and Legion Photo Matte, the coldest curve is too cold. ...

I agree; I stopped making the "cc" curve.  However, the new UC VM 4.3 is
warmer than the old MIS VM.  So, the "cc" curve might be something you'd
find useful with it.

The feedback I get is that most people don't even use the "cool" or "c"
curve, but find the "nc" curve to be quite cool.

>When you say or talk about selenium tones, does that mean something
>different that I think it does?  When I used
>to tone prints in the Darkroom with selenium toner,
>I got deeper blacks. Nothing else. I keep hearing people saying
>their selenium prints had a purple tone, but I don't ever
>recall having a purple tone to my selenium toned prints.

With these inks, the "selenium" tone is used to indicate a slight magenta
bias.  It is very subtle, however.  For example, where a totally neutral
print would have a spectrophotometer reading of, for example, c = .64, m =
.64, y = .64, a "selenium" print (including my lightly-selenium-toned silver
prints, the PiezoTone Selenium, and the new UC VM 4.3 [my designation -- not
for sale by MIS yet]) would have readings of c = .64, m = .65, y = .64.  So,
it is basically a very slightly higher magenta reading.  It's subtle, but
many find it makes a nicer looking "neutral" print.

The black ink is not affected by the midtone characterization as "selenium."
The 100% pigment black ink that MIS is moving to is like PiezoTone Museum
black.  It is slightly darker than the old MIS VM/FS black was on old EAM,
and considerably darker than MIS VM/FS-K is on the new EEM.  It still cannot
reach the depth of the Media Street dye-Enhanced black.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com
______________________________________________

Paul Roark wrote:
> Jerry,
>
>
>>what is the MIS VM 4.3 inkset?
>
>
> It's my latest mix.  I suspect MIS will produce it soon.
>
> I basically needed an inkset for the 7500 that was up to date.  The old vm
> didn't quite meet my current criteria.
>
> My first attempt on the 7500 was a dual-black, vm-s inkset (Museum black
in
> the K spot, Epson Archival black in the cyan spot).  This arrangement
> allowed software switching of the blacks to print on RC paper.  That
aspect
> of the inkset worked fine, and I'll probably put together a vm-s inkset
that
> uses the dual-k approach in the future.  The concept works -- RC and matte
> printing without the hassle of switching blacks.
>
> However, the Epson Archival black-based inkset failed for two reasons.
> First, diluting the Epson ink with the clear bases that were available to
me
> changed the rheology (viscosity, etc.) of the ink such that I had banding.
> Second, the Epson Archival black-based inkset, in the midtones (which were
> diluted Arc K) faded and warmed about like the old diluted MIS FS-K.  This
> is not the level of performance I was looking for.
>
> So, I needed a good inkset fast, since I have a lot of printing I need to
> get to.  The MIS VM inkset works very well on the 7000, so I decided to
just
> update that inkset.  The MIS UltraChrome clone Photo and Light black inks
> were ideal for this.  They are extremely lightfast and also RC compatible,
> for those who care.
>
> So, UC VM 4.3 is an updated VM inkset that uses the same curves, is much
> more lightfast, and is RC compatible (if Photo black is used in the K
> position).
>
> While I was at it, I tuned the inkset (pigment toner) to match my
> lightly-selenium-toned silver prints when the "NC" curve is used.  The nc
> curve produces prints that are just like the PiezoTone Selenium prints.
>
> The "warm" curve, which prints with, essentially, the raw MIS UC Light
Black
> ink (pure carbon -- no color added), gives an image that is about twice as
> warm as the old MIS VM inkset.  The CMY distribution is almost identical
to
> the old albumen prints (based on a good reproduction from the Getty of a
> 19th century Gustave Le Gray print), but with less saturation than the Le
> Gray re-production.  It is not a full-on sepia, but a very nice warm tone
> that is so close to the light sepia I was using that I'm not sure I'll
need
> any more.
>
> So, for me, it hits the tones I need right now.  The nc curve matches my
> silver prints, and the warm curve gives me the tone I need for the old
photo
> reproductions I'm involved with.  Most importantly for me, it works well
in
> the 7500 and is very light fast, so the prints I make are going to have a
> good long life.
>
> I'd be curious about your reaction to the inkset.  Each curve will print a
> little warmer than the current vm inkset.  However, you have a "cc" curve
> that should still be ice cold.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com