Digital BW, The Print

Alfred,

>...
>I've been told that MIS offers quality for a low price.

> - Is there any difference on using the 1280 over the 1160? ...

I used the 1160 for quite a while, and it has a great reputation.  However,
comparing the 1160 prints to the 1280 Ultra Tone prints, I think the 1280
has a quality advantage.  The light toner gives the highlights a little
smoothness advantage.  Also, the shadow tone ramp is a bit smoother.  As a
practical matter, since I and others use the 1280 more at this point, it'll
be better supported.

I've had no clogging problems with either one of them.

> ... I like the selenuim, ...

As an old silver printer who toned with selenium, that is the specific tone
the UT inks are mixed to replicate with the "neutral/selenium" curves.  The
main difference between the silver print tones and the ink tones is that the
black ink is warm.  As such, we can't get the cold deep black tones that
some selenium-toned silver prints have.  And, of course, different silver
papers and toning procedures produced different tones.  In general, however,
the "selenium" tone -- of my silver prints, PiezoTone Selenium, and UT with
the neutral curve -- is characterized by midtone spectrophotometer readings
where the cyan and yellow channels are equal, the magenta channel reads 0.01
units higher.

>I wonder if Piezo not being variable
>tone that the prints will be more consistent over time.

I don't think so.  If you're talking about fading, both the variable-tone
and monotone approaches have to use color pigments to tone the warm carbon
inks.  Whether it's in separate dots or mixed into the gray ink probably
makes no difference.  In my fade testing the PiezoTone selenium is not more
stable.

In my view, the flexibility of the variable-tone system allows one more
control over the tones among the various paper types.

> On the Piezo forum people use a lot Hahnemuhle and photorag,...

Hahnemuhle PhotoRag has been one of the most popular "rag"/cotton-based
papers, which are recommended for archival storage.  There are other cotton
papers that "flake" less (PremierArt Fine Art Hot Press, also sold as Epson
Scrapbook paper, once called "UltraSmooth" in beta) and papers that are less
expensive (Moab Entrada).  The Ultra Tones will print fine on all these,
with there being specific profiles for the latter two.

One advantage of the open Photoshop curves approach is that you can
fine-tune the curves to fit your precise printer and other variables.

>... If I buy the 1160 or 1280 with ultratones, will I
>get consistent prints?

I think they are as consistent as any other inkset that we have available to
us.  Unfortunately, I've measured differences in all of the ones where I've
collected samples from different sources.  I'm not impressed with the ink
industry's quality control, and this applies to all of them that I have
experience with.  Usually, however, they are close enough that the prints
are fine.  In a darkroom setting, one has inconsistencies also.

> If 5 years from now I decide to print the image again
>(new PS, inks, printer, etc...), can I get the same result?

Who knows?  So far, new Photoshop versions have been able to use the same
curves.  I matched my curves to the average PiezoBW densities, because that
is what I was printing before switching systems, and I wanted my files to be
compatible.  I've noticed that most of the test strips I've measured that
were printed with the common RIPs use a close enough midtone target that the
files should be useable with only minor adjustments on almost any of them.

> If I need a print larger than 13" wide, do you know of any
>commercial service to ship this to that uses the same MIS-UT inks?

I suspect any number of us on this list would be willing to print for a fee.

> Longevity is important to me - is UT the best option?

I consider both the Ultra Tone and PiezoTone inksets to be
state-of-the-art -- and that is very good indeed.  In my initial testing,
they do better than the Epson Archival color inkset, which has been rated by
some at 200+ years of display.  (I have not tested all of the inksets out
there.)

I hope this is helpful.  Obviously I may have some biases, but the UT inkset
is the one I'm using.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com