Digital BW, The Print

Hello David,

>With all due respect Clayton, where are the numbers? Visual 
>inspection means nothing. 

I understand where you're coming from, however I disagree.  Visual
inspection means a lot.  If it can't be seen it's irrelevant.  Prints,
after all, are meant to be looked at with human eyes.  There is a
place for this type of testing and there is a long tradition in this
forum of members posting their own test results of various sorts. 
Over the years, member input has contributed to the rich and useful
knowledgebase of real world experience that has helped keep this forum
a good place to keep up with what's happening at the cutting edge of 
BW digital printing.

My reports are not meant to replace, nor are considered superior to,
any numbers-based scientific tests by Wilhelm or anyone else.  I make
no claims about them and they are offered here FWIW to forum readers.
I have a number of ongoing tests on which I report now and then
(the longest one still running is an Eboni BO print which began in
November 2003).

I posted this particular one because I have not seen any Wilhelm
report for the SilverRag/K3/ABW combination.  When SR first came out I
wondered about it's fade resistance so I began this test.  I
understand that this report may not satisfy number crunchers, but it
is significant to me that a K3/SR unprotected print can get bright
daylight and some direct sunlight every day for 21 months and show no
signs of fading or color shifting.  That's one of the best results
I've had during over 5 years of testing numerous paper/ink combinations.

This takes on even more significance next to the fact that a K3/VFA
print on the same window sill began showing signs of fading at 10
months.  It's relative, and shows that K3/SR is considerably more fade
resistant than K3/VFA.  There ARE Wilhelm numbers for that combination:
 
   http://www.wilhelm-research.com/epson/R2400.html

 on Page 3 of 9, rates K3/ABW mode prints as follows, depending on the
paper:

 Framed under normal glass: 110 to >205 years
 Framed under UV glass: 110 to >300 years
 In dark album storage: > 200 years

For me this is a significant comparison and worth mentioning here in
the forum.




>If you really care about longevity and don't trust Wilhelm...

I never said or implied that I don't trust Wilhelm.  I'm sorry if my
report gave that impression.  I sometimes quote Wilhelm's test results
in posts here, as I just did.

Thanks for your reply.  Good luck with the Aardenburg project.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
I-Trak 2.1   http://www.cjcom.net/itrak.htm