Digital BW, The Print

John,

>I wonder how long its going to take MIS to knock off inks for this
>thing? I don't imagine that will be an easy task.

MIS's general business model is to supply whatever the market wants.  The
only thing in my current setup that is not a current MIS ink is the UC LM.
Since I use the 7500, I might just use the stock Epson Archival LM in the
future.  I'll probably do some fade testing to see what the best LM is.  (I
may already have that information.)  My current UC LM use is partly based on
what I had on hand and my memory of fade test data that suggests it is the
best.

I once thought that a B&W inkset based on Epson Archival pigments would be
the most lightfast.  MIS was interested and agreed to buy Epson Archival
pigments in volume.  As it turned out, the Epson Archival pigments were not
that great.

However, the point is that in several instances where I wanted to use or
actually started to use non-MIS products, MIS found an equal or superior
substitute within a matter of weeks.  That kind of responsiveness to what
MIS senses is what the market wants or will want is a major reason I've
informally worked with them.  They don't try to simple push what they make
the most money on.

In any case, you can see that my current inclination for large format is to
go forward with off-the-self, competitively available inks as much as
possible.  And where there is a mix required, I want it to be so simple
users or MIS can easily make it with a minimum chance of messing up the mix.


Paul
www.PaulRoark.com