Digital BW, The Print

handyman856 wrote:
> I just saw an episode on Modern Marvels (awesome show!)about Iron.
> 
> In that show, they showed one of the big uses of iron is in the oxide
> form, for pigments.... and that black iron oxide (the black caught my
> attention) is used because of its longevity and blackness, and has
> been used for centuries by artists and is used in to print the black
> in US paper currency. HELLO! Isn't that exactly what is needed for our
> BW printing?  :-)
> 
> Just curious - how come we battle trying to make carbon inks look
> black when, apparently, there is a better black available - and
> long-lived too!

Much depends on whether it can be dispersed as nicely in 
water based inkjet ink medium and keeps its properties in 
that medium. Which pigment particle size is possible with 
said pigment, whether it still has the nice specs at a small 
particle size is another aspect. How abrasive it is on the 
nozzles. The matte and gloss characteristics. Etc. Not all 
iron pigments were that durable either.

In my silkscreen inks I have a black iron oxide one that 
gives a high light blocking power for backlit uses. The 
larger the particles and the less uniform in size the higher 
the blocking power. The ink is matte and the medium is an 
acryl, solvent type to be used on plastics. High light 
blocking power doesn't mean it will give lowest reflectance 
= Dmax on white paper, two different aspects.


-- 
Met vriendelijke groeten,  Ernst


|  Dinkla Grafische Techniek  |
|     www.pigment-print.com    |
|             ( unvollendet )            |