Digital BW, The Print

> ... used a wet darkroom for many years. I only print in b&w ...

> ... Elements 4 
> intermediate term goal will be to print 8x10 up to 13x18;

> ... it will be critical that there is no
> possibility for color to appear in the final print.

No inkset I'm aware of can print perfectly neutral from paper white to 100%
black.  Since carbon is warm by nature, the "neutral" inksets use color
pigments to cool the carbon to a tone that is close to neutral.

Monotone inksets will have different tones based on what paper is used.

Every inkset I'm aware of is subject to slight color shifts from batch to
batch.

So the issue is, I think, how does one achieve the desired tone
consistently.

Many simply use a monotone inkset, for example, Piezo, MIS UT-FSN (or UT-FS
for medium warm), UT-R2, or UT-EZ-N (for 8x10).  If one does not buy more
equipment, this might be the safest route to go.  Many printers are
supported with these inksets.

I prefer to have a spectrophotometer to tell me what is going on and then be
able to profile the inks to the tone I want.  Being able to profile the
print to the desired tone on many different papers is the main purpose of
the variable-tone inksets for me.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com