Digital BW, The Print

Carl,

> ... It sounds like there is no escaping the use of toners - 
> either via a RIP with cyan and magenta or through the use 
>of additional toned gray inks in order to maintain a consistent, 
>neutral grayscale. 

I think that is correct with what we're currently doing.  "Consistent" and
"neutral" are what make it more work.  The eye is very sensitive to color
shifts around the neutral zone, and consistency is not the first thing that
comes to mind with respect some of our materials.

> I was looking for an FSN type result, but with only two gray inks 
>(K+LK) 

That is easy, but FSN was neither neutral nor consistent.  Seriously, I can
mix you an LK-N2 that will allow you to match the UT-FSN tones in about 15
minutes.  If the mix looks good, MIS will make and sell it.  I see the need
for such an ink.

> and this seems to be possible only if the LK is tailored to a specific
> paper, which makes sense.

Well, now you're asking for something beyond FSN or any monotone -- thus my
late August project to get the second axis under control sufficiently so we
can profile more papers and significantly correct for the inconsistencies of
our materials. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com