Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Tom Baker 
<tbaker1328@s...> wrote:
> "...so there is no color cast or dithering pattern and it is a 
true photographic process, so 
> it will last a lifetime..."
>  
> It is not safe to any assumptions about the product just because 
it is a 'true photographic' process.  Go lookup the ratings on 
various 'wet' products/processes.
>  
> Also, there is evidence building that a well done carbon on cotton 
print will outlast a 'wet' photographic by quite a bit.  Even many 
of the prints from the 'masters' are not in very good shape now.
>  
> Tom Baker

Thank you for pointing this out! Does anyone even know what brand of 
paper Mpix uses? Anything but well processed fiber-base hasn't a 
prayer of 'lasting a lifetime' (well, maybe the balance of mine) and 
the only RC paper that does is Fuji Crystal Archive, which of course 
is not B&W. Keep in mind that a company like Mpix MUST machine 
process its RC papers-that brings them up to a commercial standard 
which while consistent, is not even up to the best that RC wet 
papers are capable of-which isn't good enough to begin with.

And on the other hand, while still in its formative stages, RC 
inkjets with glop coating on a good paper have a much better chance 
of lasting a lifetime, and the tonal range and Dmax are outstanding, 
rivaling and perhaps surpassing wet prints. The only shortcoming 
I've seen is in the smoothness of the transitions, and I'm hoping 
that will be  addressed by the next generation of 1.5 to 2.0 
picoliter printers.

Steve Karafyllakis