Digital BW, The Print

Bonjour Paul,

Well I don't think Carl will mind. :-) Your answer is very exhaustive
and allows me to understand what goes on behind the scene.

Many thanks for such a detailed and long reply on a Christmas day!

Denis Bouchard
www.denisbouchard.ca


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@...> wrote:
>
> Denis,
> 
> I don't mean to answer for Carl, but be sure not to use my original
PKN that
> is on the MIS "Roark's Lab" page
> (http://www.inksupply.com/roarkslab.cfm)(not my doing).
> 
> At that page MIS states: 
> "PKN - Ultratone Photo Black Neutral -
> Paul has discovered that, by adding some archival blue pigments to the
> Ultratone Photo Black ink, he can achieve a significantly higher Dmax
> on gloss and semi-gloss papers."
> 
> I agree.
> 
> MIS continues: "The addition of the blue has only minor effects on
the fade 
> resistance of the ink..."
> 
> Well, I wish.  I have not tested these inks.  The ink has about 40%
color
> pigments in it.  Cyan is very lightfast, so I used as much of that as
> possible.  However, to avoid green in the shadows there is also a fair
> amount of magenta in it.  Magenta is not very lightfast for pigments
-- not
> close to good carbon.  (Note that in many cases I use the R800Blue
instead
> of magenta, but it's not that much better than the magenta.)
> 
> As noted above, to make this ink as lightfast as I could, I used as much
> cyan as I could relative to magenta.  That makes this ink too cyan for
> midtone use.  So, I definitely do not recommend a black only or 3-MK
> approach with this original PKN.  It's for the best dmax on older
printers
> -- nothing else.
> 
> What I recommend for the 1800 is the inks I recently mixed for the R260.
> These PKN versions have a mix of blue that is appropriate for
midtones and
> specifically the 3-PK approach on the R1800.  These are at
> http://www.inksupply.com/r260_blackandwhite.cfm   Note the "Neutral,"
> "Cool," or "Warm" labels at the top of each MIS inkset tabel.  The
cartridge
> sets are listed in the first 3 tables.  The bulk inks are in the
second 3
> tables.  
> 
> The warm RC inks are pure carbon.  The neutral are going to print medium
> warm on many papers in the midtone positions, even though the 100%
black is
> a bit on the cool side.  That is, the inks tend to print warmer when in
> midtone positions.  Carl is using the "neutral" PKN (bulk ink #
RC-NTL-4-PK)
> for all positions.  
> 
> If you want a more straight line response from paper white to 100%
black,
> use of a Cool PK (bulk # RC-CL-4-PK) in the midtones will help, but
continue
> with the "neutral" for the 100% black and deep shadows.  You'll have
to look
> at Carl's curves to see what ink position is used where.  The
"Neutral" PK
> has about half the blue as the original PKN.  The "Cool" RC PK has
about 50%
> more blue than the Neutral RC PK, and still less than the original PKN.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com 
> 
> > > >> Carl Schofield wrote:
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Best small format B&W prints I've ever made on RC
> > > >>> (and the new fiber papers) have been with the Epson R1800 
> > > >>> using Paul Roark's 3-MK workflow, but subsituting the 
> > > >>> new MIS neutral PK (part# RCNTL-4-PKN). These "3-PKN" 
> > > >>> prints have that luminous BO quality,
> > > >>> but without the "grain". Very smooth highlights and midtones.
> > > >>> QTR R1800 3-PKN profiles ... available here:
> > > >>> http://homepage.mac.com/scho/.Public/R1800_3PKN.zip
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Carl Schofield
>