Digital BW, The Print

"Joost Horsten" <j.h.j.h@...> wrote:

> ... Paul has come up with yet another ... ink set-up. 

It's a desease. 

> ...

There are lots of alternative setups, depending on what one wants to achieve.  For my old 7500 the dot size restricts the flexibility, but for K2 or above, matte and glossy neutral printing with Eboni and HP inks, and derivatives looks good.  


> A magenta ink could do the job for the lab-a control as 
> well, but that is probably affecting the smoothness and 
> archivability too much.

The good news is that the paper manufacturers almost always set Lab A to slightly positive (according to my spectro, and with these very low lab values, spectros can vary), and the pigmented inksets usually leave the Lab A at about the same level.  (Claria BO is ugly green, in my view.)

The bad news is that controlling Lab A usually takes some magenta, and that is one of my least favorite pigments.  The UT-3D inkset was an attempt to control Lab A.  Having this control is also a mixed bag.  it makes profiling more difficult.  So, UT3D was also an attempt to make an approach that would allow the profiling software to take care of the problem.  While it worked to a certain extent, I don't think it was worth the effort.  So, I usually just leave Lab A where it is.

On that subject, in my testing various papers, I've found that the more elevated Lab A used by Premier Imaging in its Smooth BW paper I use is the most effective at fighting the greenies if there is any fluorescent lighting in the room. With the pressure to go to efficient compact fluorescent light, including floods, this elevated Lab A gives that paper a real advantage.  Until we get fluorescent lights with CRIs in the 90's, fighting the green will continue to be a serious issue for me, perhaps enough to keep me with my Eboni/Carbon-6 approach and Premier Art Smooth BW, even with its OBAs.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com