Digital BW, The Print

True enough on the hazards of heavy metals, as well as their
availability.It's just that while I love the results I get with carbon
prints, every once in awhile, I have to wonder how the same image
would look in a gsp.  I always remember the first time I printed a 
carbon print, it just seemed... "flat" for lack of a better word. And
occasionally I notice that same "flatness" in a print I happen to be 
working on. Who knows, considering the cost would most likely be
quite prohibitive, a silver based inkset could either be a specialty
printing process, kind of like platinum printing with chemical
processes or just not done at all.  Who knows, maybe at some point
in the future, digital printing combined with chemical processes will
become affordable enough for the average photographer.  Till then,
I guess I can live with carbon :)

Eric



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "john dean" 
<deanwork2003@y...> wrote:

>  metallic inks?
> 
> You'd have to ask Paul or someone who actually knows about the
physics
> of pigments and inksets. But I'll tell you I have wondered the same
> thing. A lot of the complaints people have about inkjet mono (not
from
> me by the way) photography have to do with this lack of sparkle that
> only a metallic light forming compound can produce. I thought about
> that today when I saw that new Piezzotone sample. I was just about
to
> take back some of the things I said about nasty darkroom work (na).
> 
> I assume for some type of metallic inkset you would have to start
from
> scratch with a new printing system, a new head, software drivers,
etc.
> I don't see why any of this couldn't be doable. They could be
> beautuful,silver metallic compounds distributed through a piezzo
type
> head. But to me the bigggest two reasons not to pursue that line of
> reasoning is that your going right back into toxic heavy metals
> discarded into the landfil, into the drinking water,just what we
don't
> need, and second but not least, the cost of dealing with such hard
to
> acquire and handle materials. Carbon is cheap,reasonalby safe and
> plentiful. So, yea for carbon. I'm quite happy with it. Lets don't
> give up on that this year.
> 
> John