Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Kale"
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
>
> I'm surprised nobody has commented on this:
> 
> http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/12/prweb316598.htm

If you want an honest comment, I found that Ink Village press release
so pathetic that I gave up reading it after two paragraphs, checked
out the web site and was similarly unimpressed.

It starts out "Digital Photography and Fine Art Giclee Print
Professionals are raving about..." and just gets worse from there.
Guys, no one is "raving" about this stuff. They're hardly discussing it.

Encapsulation has nothing to do with "metamorism" (sic). And how many
times can they repeat that misspelling on their web site?

Like Mark Savioa, I tried to find the longevity testing results that
were supposed to be on the web site, and couldn't. But I did find some
gems in the FAQ.

http://www.theprintvillageshop.com/faq.asp

This is in reference to sublimation printing: "The image is actually
as scratch resistant as the first few millimeters of the surface it is
sublimated on since they are impregnated in color, beyond that point
scratches will show the substrate original color". Come on,
sublimation doesn't even penetrate a few micrometers of most surfaces,
let alone "the first few millimeters". Well, maybe if you're doing a
sub print on Sponge Bob Square Pants...

Then the FAQ goes on and on about how some other company holds the
patents on sublimation printing smaller than 42 inches, and tells
people: "A US based Company holds patents relating to the formulation
of dye sublimation ink for use in inkjet printers. ... No distributor,
reseller or sales person has the authority or right to authorize use
of our sublimation inks on printers that have a carriage width under
42 ... US Sublimation forbids using it's licensed products in any way
that is not permissible under the terms of the license ..." (ellipses
mine).

But what's the first thing you see when you click on the sublimation
page, itself?

http://www.theprintvillageshop.com/departments.asp?dept=5

Not the inks, not the transfer paper, not the presses, and not the
substrates. No, the very first thing on the sublimation page is...

"Continuous ink supply systems" for Epson C63, 64, 82, 83, 84, 86,
900, 1270, 1280, 2100, 2200, as well as empty carts for the 4000 and
7600. Reminds me of when I was young and you used to be able to buy an
AR-15, and the seller would go into great detail about the things you
MUST NOT DO to the gun, the parts you must not add, etc.