Digital BW, The Print

Hi John,

>Your 'carbon on cotton' concept is deeply appealing to me, 
>and it certainly looks like the way I'd like to go on my 
>QTR-driven 7500. The inherent warm tone it has would be my default.

Most carbons by themselves are about half way to sepia -- a bit warmer than
most like.  That's the only reason we had to use the color inks.

> It would be nice at the same time to maximize the number of 
> carbon tones/dilutions to 5K or 6K. 

Since you only have 6 spots, unless you never want other than carbon warm,
you'll need toner(s).

>I would not want to go further in the sepia direction so
>presumably I can omit light magenta;

If you just use cyan, the tone goes green.  That is why the LM is in the
setup.  The UT1 toner was a single blue toner that offset the carbon tone,
but it was also a blended ink that had the problems of differential
separation in large format printers.  There is no inkjet pigment that, by
itself, is the opposite or complementary color to carbon warm, which is a
rather yellow warm.

> and conceptually I think I prefer
> the possibility of greater smoothness with a 6K set over 
> the ability to neutralize. (If I need to make toned prints, 
> the 4000 with QTR and epson UC does a decent job.) 
> I would not need photo black.

>> If you did not want glossy compatibility, you could use the MIS UT
>> standard dark and light carbons (e.g., 3D C & LC), omitting the PK,
>> and then make a very light gray with the 3D-LC diluted 1 LC to 2
>> base. (This is the usual dilution ratio.) The standard UT C and LC
>> are a bit darker than the LK and LLK. This gives you a better
>> spacing on your grays and a super-light one for the highlights.

>... The UT-3D choices are a bit confusing...beyond black,
>there is carbon, light carbon, LK and LLK. If those four are all
>noticeably different dilutions of carbon,

They are, although the spacing is not real even.  UT-3D-C is 75% LK and 25%
PK.  The UT-3D-LC carbon is about .5 LK (and .3 UT-C).  The LLK is about .3
LK.  So, you might want a bit more space between those 2.  For what it's
worth, UT1 quad M or hex Y is 17% LK and is the lightest MIS pre-mixed pure
carbon ink, but it would not be as light as the LLLK, below.

> I could add the 'LLLK' 1:2 dilution and have my six tones.

Yes.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com