Digital BW, The Print

Todd,

I'm not inclined to respond too much to skeptics or critics, but at the risk
of throwing gasoline on the fire, I will try to explain where I'm coming
from.

Of course, my critics are, in part, correct -- I do have my biases.  For
example, I am biased against bullshit, and there seems to be a lot of that
around -- more from some sellers that others.

Nobody ever accused me of being particularly politic -- or normal, for that
matter.  So maybe people would understand my weird sense of fun if they knew
where I'm coming from.  I am a retired Federal Trade Commission antitrust
and consumer protection attorney.  I thoroughly enjoyed suing and kicking
the butts of the biggest companies and even entire national industries.  If
anyone wants a reference, ask Ralph Nader.  You can also ask any residential
real estate broker about the radical shift in their industry from one where
the buyer had no representation (but was led to believe s/he did) to one
where most buyers are represented by agents. How did that happen?  There was
never even a big lawsuit on the issue.  There was this arcane FTC book that
was published, but ...

The reason some people stay in government work is that, if they enjoy having
an impact and have the ability, it provides a platform where a single person
actually can affect radical change on entire industries.  And the effect is
not necessarily through suing companies or enacting rules, or anything more
than just disseminating a little information.  Our society lives on
information even more than oil.  Tiny amounts of information can be the
catalyst for really major change.  It can be a huge chess game, and there
are a few of us who really enjoyed it -- and still do.

But, after 25 years of this, my life plan was and is to stop doing anything
that is determined by the need for the $.  Now I just pursue those things
that related to non-monetary rewards -- love of family, nature, beauty,
photography, [(a good fight ;-)], etc.  Yes, it is a bit idealistic, but
life is short, and I don't need a Mercedes.

So, as part of this, I wanted a good digital output for the hundreds of
negatives I had produced during my mainstream-carrier phase of life.  I
tried a bunch.  Piezo was the best.  I really appreciate the ease with which
it got me up to speed, and Jon's information in the archives has been
invaluable.

But, as my experience grew, I came to want more.  My Piezo outfit banded
often, so I found that I could write RGB curves and use the Epson driver to
cure that.  I found the color of Piezo less than ideal, for me.  So, I
developed a variable-tone Piezo-based inkset.  I made it all public.  Why
not?  I'm not in the ink business.

The more I learned, however, the less enamored I became of some of the
information being disseminated by the Piezo camp -- only Piezo is carbon
based, Piezo is continuous tone, Piezo is pigments and doesn't fade, Piezo
has the longest tonal range, ....  With my background, this BS just rubs me
the wrong way.  One would think Cone Editions invented inkjet printing and
quads.  In my view, good products like Piezo don't need this nonsense.  On
the other hand, as I've told Jon in e-mails, with my personality I couldn't
sell a thing.  I understand that salesmanship often involves hype.

At any rate, I was originally left with the impression that Piezo was the
ultimate and the cheap MIS alternative was just trash.  Finally, some Piezo
users (Jerry, among others) suggested that I try to make a variable-tone ink
mix based on MIS.  So, that sounded like an interesting alternative and
challenge.  However, I didn't want to waste my time on an inkset that was
second rate.  So, I started to try to find out what MIS was like.  The
testing was an outgrowth of this.  And the MIS VM inkset is my response to
those who wanted an MIS-based variable-tone inkset.

As the VM X3 test indicates, the MIS VM inkset is not likely to be the last
one I mix.  The VM X3, by the way, can be mixed from competitively-available
components -- not just MIS materials.  And it is something I do on my own,
not at the request of MIS, with whom I have no formal relationship.  I do
receive free materials from MIS and sometimes other sellers, sometimes
unsolicited, but I understand this is typical for those who the sellers
consider movers and shakers.  I also receive personal e-mails from
pissed-off sellers whose papers or inks did not do too well in my tests.  I
just can't please all the people all the time.  However, I have never
intended to trash any of the competitors, though my casual or indiscreet
writing might unintentionally have had that effect.

I am still not satisfied with the state of the art in this little quad
industry.  The warm-shifting is a big pain.  I want to be able to
incrementally add prints to my collection as I make them.  The new ones must
be close enough to the old ones in color to not stand out like sore thumbs.
So, that is what I'm working on now -- for my own purposes.  When I get a
mix that seems sufficiently better than the MIS VM inkset that I decide to
use it, I'll probably offer it to MIS first.  I'd much rather have some ink
company mix the inks for me, and I appreciate the quality information and
materials I've received from Bob Zeiss.  But, this is not an MIS project,
and MIS might not even be interested in bothering with another inkset.

That's OK, this is what I do for me and for fun.  I also, of course, hope my
efforts are helpful to the interests of all quad ink consumers.  Public
service and consumer protection has, after all, been my life's career.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com


________________

-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Flashner [mailto:tflash@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 11:53 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Re: Fade test - German Etching & Piezo, MIS VM &X3
on EAM


on 10/17/01 3:11 PM, Martin Wesley wrote:

> I am very puzzled as to what your reasons are to question Paul's
> motivation and integrity. He has done a great deal of work with the
> inks and shared the information freely. I do not understand your
> antagonism.

I think some air needs to be cleared here. I hope I'm not being too
presumptuous or provocative, but here goes.

I get the feeling JB is not the only person on this list who think Paul is
affiliated with MIS, and is thus an opponent, competitor, or in some way has
an axe to grind with Cone's Piezo. I think people presumptuous that because
he writes curves for the MIS inks, and in fact, contributes to their inkset
formulations, so it's not a far fetched notion.

Paul, lets say I accuse you of (which I don't BTW), for whatever reason,
being biased against Piezo, and perhaps engaging in misinformation or biased
information toward their products. Would you care to state for yourself what
your "position" is relative to either or both of those manufacturers?

Todd