Digital BW, The Print

Cathy,

>You printed Piezo and MIS VM/VM X3 on different papers for this test?

I didn't print the Piezo/German Etching Paper test strip.  I was asked to
run it just to see how it did.

>If that is true, then you cannot draw valid conclusions by comparing
>what I see as apples and oranges...

Yes, there is some of that.  I have only 3 spots in my fader.  My interest
is the MIS VM inkset and the experimental inksets I'm working on.  I have no
interest in Piezo and German Etching personally.

>You may say that for a given
>paper, these inks fade x amount, but you cannot compare them to each
>other. If it was not your intent to compare fading and warming between
>the inks, then that was not clear to me...

The main and most valid comparison to come out of the test is the MIS VM v.
VM X3 on EAM.

On the other hand, I don't see all that much variability in the tests.
Since there is almost always an MIS VM (nc) on EAM test strip in the tests,
I can track the variances in that combination.  The results are fairly
consistent.  So, while I make no claims at all regarding the Piezo and
German Etching, if I were using them, I'd be interested in looking into how
they might perform.  I see the 90% fade result as a yellow flag that I'd be
interested in pursuing more if that were the combination I was using.  (The
other fade and warm shifting is right in the normal range -- not bad at
all.)

I encourager everyone to test their materials.  Life is too short to wait
for Wilhelm, and there are too many vested interests to trust what a seller
says.  We can all do the crude testing, whether it is "south window" or
simple florescent light.  All I'm doing is trying to get to an inkset that I
feel has the qualities I want.  As "defective" as my testing may be, I just
don't see anything better out there that is useable.  So, I do my own thing
for my own uses.  I publish the results and others can take them for what
they are.  Hopefully some information is better than none.

I do have one clear interest -- I want there to be a competitive quad inkset
industry that serves our shared interests.  I'm not trying to bash any
inkset, paper, or system, but I want alternatives and some information about
their relative performance. Where else are we going to get that information
if we don't do the work?

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com