Digital BW, The Print

Phil,

 
> 1.  I have a bottle of PKN (part of a pint) that has expiration 
> of later this year.  Is this the old PKN?

It is probably the old stuff.  I don't think MIS has ever sold the 
UT14-C as a PKN.

> Is there a permanence issue here???

No, it's just too cyan or green for the midtones, in my view.  Also, 
on the 1.5 pl printers, I think it's too heavy a load.  I've had 
(slight) clogging with the old PKs in both the 1800 and the 1400.  
The clogging has not been serious, but I pull back from any evidence 
of trouble, and I think there is such evidence with respect to the 
older PKs.  Use the K4-PK as the starting point, not MP-PK (aka old 
7600 PK).


> 2.  PKN...from what I understood this is fine as the 
> Black position, right??? 

See above.  It's based on the higher load, older PKs.  It might be 
fine, but if you see any evidence of clogging, pull it and go to 
either the UT14-C or one of the UT-RC (260) PK/PKNs.

> I have used it successfully until now on a 2200...

Which is an older printer.

I can't say for sure that there is a problem, so I don't like 
broadcasting potentially negative information that could be wrong or 
might be taken out of context as a warning that all MIS inks clog.  
But in my experiments with PKs on the 1800 and 1400, I think there is 
a reason Image Specialists backed off that high load PK for the newer 
printers.

> 3.  So here is what I think would be a good starting point 
> for my lustre set.  

> Black -PKN  along with shades of Greys composed half the 
> newer Cool Neutral ink you suggest as well as half 
> 100 percent Carbon.  Am I on the right track here. 

The RC-PKN is 20% color, which would be right what you want.  It gave 
a good, relatively cool-neutral black, but was a bit warm in the 
midtones.  Notice on page 5 of http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/R260-
BW-GS-Eps.pdf that I used the RC-PKN for the black but RC-Cool 
midtones (30% color/carbon) and there was still a slight rise in the 
Lab B -- i.e., a subtle split tone.  That's why I went to 40% for the 
UT14-C.  (The old PKN was also a 40% color/60% carbon mix.)  40% is 
too much for most of the image, but in a variable tone inkset, where 
you want the 100% carbon jets firing also, the 40% mix worked out 
rather well.

So, depending on what you like, you may want to consider the 40% UT14-
C & LC mixes.

>  I would use MIS LK and LLK as the warm greys....which I have on 
> hand.

They'll work fine to control the coolness.  
 
> 4.  I like slightly split tone...matter of fact I consider 
> it desireable.  Gives a visual depth as 
> long as it is subtle.  

Even a 30% color/carbon gives a split tone on glossy papers.  I still 
think the 40%, blended with carbon to achieve your desired level of 
split tone, might be a better way to go.  Since you'll want to use 
both the carbon and cool inks, a 50-50 mix will give a split tone.  


> So my thinking here is the PKN gives a subtle coolness ..

"Subtle" and the old PKN ...? Hmm, where did I go wrong?

> to the deep blacks like Selenium toning.

Selenium, in my experience, tends to have a slightly elevated Lab A --
 not the cyan/green negative Lab A of the old PKN.

>  Am I safe here, or should I buy a new black...

Buy one of the new PKN versions.  RCN-PK is 20%, RCC-PK is 30%, 
(see http://www.inksupply.com/r260_blackandwhite.cfm )
and UT14-C ( http://www.inksupply.com/ut14_black_and_white.cfm ) is 
40%.

> Is there a problem with PKN as black position???

It's based on the old 7600 PKN (now called MP-PK), which may not be 
as reliable in new printers as the newer PKs based on K4-PK.

 
> 5. On the Glop issue, if I manipulate my images so that 
> the brightest highlights are 254, 
> will I get sufficient glop to eliminate the Gloss differential?
>  Or should I dedicate a channel to Glop and use a reverse 
> curve to lay a bunch of Glop on the highlights?

This is so dependent on the ink, paper, and one's subjective 
opinions, that it's hard to answer this question.  I thought glop was 
still needed with a sufficient number of papers to warrant including 
it in UT14, but it's a close call with some of the better papers.  
I'd suggest you start with a Glop channel and see if you really need 
it for the papers and ink mix you end up with.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com