Digital BW, The Print

Hans Van Rafelghem wrote:

>Yes, but only pigment inks garantee longelivety. Dye based inks do not :)
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It depends on how you define "longelivety" or longevity or archivalness 
or lightfastness or whatever term you want to use. Some dye based inks 
are better than others. I've got a dye based print from an IRIS machine 
that's seen way more directly sunlight than it should have, that shows 
no sign of fading, but I've only had it for about eight years now.

The Lyson dye inks appear to be respectable in lightfastness performance 
too. And the numbers for the new dye inks from Futures seem to be quite 
encouraging indeed, may they publish and ship soon.

>Anyway, I am most satisfied with the results on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper.
>I agree that on glossy paper a 1270 print is much nicer than a 2100 
>print, but not on semi-gloss or pearl paper.
>I also still have a 1270 (and had a 1290), which uses dye inks, but 
>still prefer the results of the 2100. All the 1270/1290 prints hanging 
>framed on the wall are starting to fade.
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Absolutely. Epson's dye inks for the 1270 were/are a disaster. IMHO, it 
was these inks, and these inks alone, that caused the industry wide 
stampede to pigment inks. But not all dye inks are Epson 1270 dye inks, 
thank goodness.

The only advantage to pigment inks is longevity. They lose to dye inks 
on just about every other score:

    * Pigment inks clog more, and the clogs tend to be harder to remove
    * Pigment inks settle, in the carts and in the lines, if the printer 
isn't used on a regular basis.
    * Pigments stay on the surface of the paper, resulting in:
          - Fragile surface, easy to scratch or scuff
          - Poor performance in books - pigments tend to rub off and 
transfer to adjacent pages
          - Best performance on matte surfaces
                   * Low Dmax (glossy surfaces give better Dmax)
                   * Somewhat less ability to carry fine detail (matte 
surface not as smooth as glossy)
                   * Restricted choice of surfaces for the photographer
          - Poor performance on glossy surfaces
                   * Bronzing or gloss differential
                   * Needs various kinds of laminates (sprays, hot/cold 
film)
    * Pigment ink chemistry needs anti-clogging agents such as glycols 
and glycerins which are very slow to evaporate
          - Dry down takes a long time, especially on RC papers
                   * outgassing in framed works fogs glazing
                   * Change in gamut and Dmax as ink dries

That said, I use Cone's PiezoTone pigment inks, because pigment inks are 
the best game in town. Today. But as soon as an acceptable grayscale dye 
ink makes it to market, I'll certainly try it, and switch if I can. I'll 
trade a few years of archivalness for all the other advantages of dye 
inks. In a heartbeat.

But that's just me. Clearly, YMMV.