Digital BW, The Print

Don,

>I'm striving for simplicity in my printing, ...
> I do not wish to have an ink that is toned ...
>...

Mixing your own inkset is not what I'd call simplicity.  It's fun if you are
into that type of thing, but a read-made one is much simpler.

Also, if you want the smoothest highlights, you'll also end up having to
write your own adjustment curves.  If you want the old Piezo driver to print
it, the ink densities must be carefully matched to what that driver was
designed for.

I agree that having the fewest colors in an inkset might be an advantage.
The carbon fades less than the color pigments.  (Eboni will yellow a bit,
however.  This is actually an increase in the yellow channel reading, not a
fading process, at least initially.)

What I'm interested in is a neutral ink that has the least amount of color
pigment in it.  I understand the desire for no color pigments at all, but I
just don't like the warm (but not sepia) tone for my photos.  For old photo
reproductions it's fine, but I like neutral landscapes.  Also, for true
sepia, one needs color pigments to get there.  The pure carbon ink is not
warm enough.

By the way, FS-K is toned with dyes, it appears.  So, FS-K is not what I'd
hold out as some ultimate ink.

>1. Are the color positions in the Full Spectrum warm
>inks derived from the black ink? ...

FS is a mix of FS-K and clear base -- no color added.  But, as noted above,
it has dyes in it to start with.  It fades to a tone that is similar to the
MIS 7600 blacks/UT grays.  No carbon ink except the new high-load inks like
Eboni can make a black that dense or that neutral without being pumped up
with dye.  This dye burns off, leaving a much warmer carbon base.

>2. Is anyone creating their own quadtone inks by
>diluting the MIS inks with the epson clear stock?

Where can you get an appropriate Epson clear base?

MIS sells a clear base that is appropriate for mixing the older quads.  It
also looks to be appropriate for the Eboni-based inks I'm now experimenting
with.

The MIS 7600 (& Ultra Tone) inks require a special base that MIS has but
does not sell, I believe.

> I had used Eboni for about a day until it clogged my 1160 dry.

The only problem I know of with Eboni is that it can react with dyes.  Of
course, there were dyes in the older black pigments.  Also, dyes on the pad
seem to cause minor but annoying clogging (so rinse the pad off with
Windex).

>  BUT - the one print that worked before the
>clog has a beautiful tone, and I find its color much
>more appealing than that of the FS original black.

It's a better ink in terms of dmax and longevity.

I'm experimenting with Eboni as a base black due to it's better (more
neutral) tone relative to the other carbon base inks that are readily
available to me (MIS's 7600 light K and Photo K).  If Eboni is mixed
straight, with no pigments, it is still warm -- about 0.07 units warm.  This
is not as warm as the 7600 blacks, but warmer than the FS inkset.  Still,
since the Eboni is relatively neutral, I'll have to add the least amount of
cyan and magenta pigs to it to get to a truly neutral base inkset.  I'll
probably publish the dilutions for an FS/Piezo type inkset based on this and
use the base ink for a vm-s upgrade.  (The vm-s inkset is a favorite of mine
due to the neutral and true sepia tones it can reach.)

I don't know if MIS is interested in supporting the old Piezo driver any
more.  However, I sense there is demand for a cheap, state-of-the-art,
Piezo-compatible, "selenium-toned" neutral ink.

>... Call me sentimental, but I'll
>most likely be using the piezo driver with this inkset.

The Piezo driver is one target of the Eboni-Selenium I'm making.  I'll test
it on my 1160 with the old Piezo driver.  Of course, it will also work with
Photoshop curves doing the partitioning.

I have a fade test to do before I'll know which of the color pigments to use
to make the inkset neutral.  So, it'll take a few weeks for this.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com