Digital BW, The Print

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shilesh Jani [mailto:shilesh.jani@...]
> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 4:16 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Septone system
>
>
> Hello Martin,
>
> You bring up very good points.  I am not fully up to speed with the
> Septone system, but I understand that the current ink line up is warm
> and cool.  The PiezoTone approach perhaps shows greater color depth,
> in that the shadows are not really cool or warm, rather they are the
> eggplant magenta.  I am not sure that the Septone inkset can create
> such complexity.

Shilesh,

From the 7600 prints R9 sent me I would say they equal the hue complexity of
the Selenium Piezotones but let you control it with software. This interests
me a great deal because when I was making traditional silver fiber prints I
used Oriental as my main paper, Ilford Galleria and Kodak Fine Art as second
choices and occasionally other papers. I was not unusual to find that a
negative printed better on one paper than another. I think that in part this
may be due to the difference in hue. I also liked to vary the amount of
selenium toning I used.

The end result is that there is subtle variation between my silver prints
and I would like to have something similar with my inkjet prints. I
personally think that pure monochrome prints or large numbers of prints that
are identical in hue to be rather "flat" in feel. Very subjective I know but
I don't know how else to describe it.

What I felt would be the ultimate solution would be a VM or Variable Mix
approach with three toners. Small gamut (predominantly gray) toner inks
C,M,Y with a neutral black and 3 neutral grays. This would offer complete
control over the overall hue but does not address the issue of varying hue
independent of tone. You do get more chromatic variation from the VM
approach since the hue variation is obtained by pushing the toner ink down
into the black or letting it come up into the highlights but this has been
more of a side benefit than per plan.

Choice of paper also gives a big boost to chromatic complexity. The entire
issue became apparent in looking at prints by Peter Lindman done with the
original VM inks on Eclipse Bright White. The very bright tone and neutral
hue of the paper emphasized the varying hue within the ink set with the cyan
toner ink to produce a very rich print.

> It would be fun to play around modifying inks to
> suit our own preference.

Having played around with blending MIS-FS and MIS-FSN I am excited about a
system that lets you do this with software rather than physical mixing which
was a real pain.

>  I am definitely considering the system for
> my own use, just as much for this new versatility as for the faster
> printing speeds of the 2200 compared to my 1280.  Q: Is the Septone
> driver for the 2200 fast?

That I can't answer the speed question but you might try e-mailing R9 and
see what they have to say. If you hear back let us know.

Martin Wesley
http://www.borderless-photos.de/guests.html