Digital BW, The Print

>I have read in the past that the MIS inks were all made in China

I know where MIS buys its inks, and the company is in the U.S.  Where that
company gets the various inputs is another question.  I would guess they
come from more than one place.

>... If this is still
>true that would be enough to scare me away. The one great thing
>about Epson ( and Cone I'm not sure about) is that they have
>great consistency in production, that you pay for of course.

I've measured inconsistencies in the inks of all the suppliers mentioned
above.  I was bemoaning the fact with a fabrics seller, who also confessed
that no 2 batches are the same.  Here is a quote from the X-Rite "Color
Guide" relating to the use of "tolerance spheres" (the allowable Delta E in
manufacturing):  "Tolerances of less than 2 [Delta] units are typically
unachievable given normal process variation ..."

In B&W the eye is so sensitive to hue changes that the above tolerances
become troublesome.  I'm working on ways to reduce the problem, but
re-mixing the inksets for every input batch is major hassle that no one is
going to do for the price we are willing to pay.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com