Digital BW, The Print

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roy Harrington [mailto:roy@...]
> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 1:36 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Septone system
>
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Martin Wesley"
> <mwesley250@e...> wrote:
>
> >
> > They will not appreciate me saying this but since the ink
> densities of the
> > two gray sets are the same as the Piezotone and the MIS-FS ink
> sets I have
> > to wonder if the software will not work with these gray inks as
> well. Say
> > Warm Neutral and Selenium Piezotone grays or MIS-FS and FSN?
>
> Martin,
>
> I guess its not too surprising that they are using the same ink
> densities --
> with 4 inks (black + 3 grays) there's going to be a fairly obvious optimum
> set of densities. Not to mention they developed the original piezo quads.
>
> I wonder how the inks themselves compare in permanence and color etc.

Roy,

You may recall the 7600 samples of the Septones I showed you at the SF
meeting. The hue of the prints looked very good but some of the PixelPicasso
wedges were only okay but not as good as others varying with how the inks
were blended by the software. The 2200 wedges they sent me are actually much
better but not all are as smooth as I would like to see.

As far as permanence we really need some comparative testing and I nope that
Paul can assist as his comparative testing of two or three ink sets in one
trial are the most useful. I have to give Sundance/R9 credit for actually
printing some of the results of their RIT testing. Only a side-by-side test
will suffice but I am hoping they are comparable to the PiezoTones or MIS FS
inks since they were developed in the same time frame.

Interestingly as far as I know none of the companies we talk about here
actually make any ink. They are all buying ink from unnamed manufacturers
blended to their specifications. I have to wonder if some of them are not
getting the ink from the same place.
>
> >
> > I also wonder if Roy could not add this ability to QuadTone
> RIP. You would
> > just need more curves that only effected narrow tonal ranges.
>
> The current blending is pretty basic -- just one blend percentage.  But
> adding one or two more and sliding the percentage wouldn't be too
> difficult.  The ultimate would be to allow a curve that would
> allow any mix.
> This would ensure smooth transitions of tonal changes.

Do you think that coming up with curve sets that varied two sets of gray 3
gray inks over highs, mids and lows could be handled by QuadTone? Or say a
VM set with 3 toners over three ranges?

Martin
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