Digital BW, The Print

I noticed this ‘black thing’ thread a bit late,  but just the same 
here’s my 2 cents worth:

1)	I agree that trying to get inkjets to imitate silver in 
general is a bit ‘iffy’ and to some extent raises the issue of 
remaining true to the integrity of the new medium. One could make an 
argument for letting it stand on its own at this point and using its 
strengths to best advantage.
Having said that, however, I have to point out that pursuing the 
characteristics of silver has in no way been ‘peripheral’ or 
irrelevant, it has in fact driven the development of inkjet 
printing, and is continuing to do so. 
Think about it: we have pigment inks because the dyes didn’t hold up 
as well as color photos, not even Kodak’s.  
We have dither patterns and droplet sizes that print finer than a 
lot of the photographic output to date (small format at any rate), 
because the manufacturers perceived us as demanding ‘true 
photographic output’-whatever that means. 
The development of grayscale pigment printing happened in pursuit of 
the smoothness, neutrality and tonal range of silver prints.
If Epson and early reports are to be believed, we are now getting 
pigments capable of better color with a longer lifespan than any 
photo process currently available. 
All of the above (and more) happened because the various parties 
involved were trying hard to equal or exceed the photographic 
standards of our day, in order to gain wider acceptance-and 
eventually replace chem. based photography. So like it or not, 
pursuing photographic standards and characteristics has been the 
engine driving this train. The process has blessed us with many 
improvements, and there are undoubtedly more to come. So is any one 
really ready to say ‘this is my stop, I’ll get of the train, thank 
you’ just because they’re tired of the ‘the black thing’ argument?

Personally I’d like to see a dmax of over 2.0 on matte papers. In 
the days before I knew better, and even afterwards once by mistake, 
I used dye black on a couple different cotton papers, and the 
density was just intense. If you think rag papers are incapable of 
better damx, try it sometime. It was quite a letdown to go back to 
Archival K and even Eboni, so I for one am not willing to settle for 
(IMO) a barely adequate 1.65 or whatever it is. I’ll live with it 
temporarily, but the first ink maker that bumps it up even a small 
but noticeable increment (with good lifespan of course) gets my 
nickel.

Shovel that coal & stoke that fire boys & girls, we still have some 
track left to explore.

Steven Karafyllakis

http://www.stevekphoto.com