Digital BW, The Print

Mark,

I was one of those 15 people who joined based on the post. I got more  
than $ 25.00 of value just reading what you had posted on your site.  
I am shocked that only 15 of 10000 responded, telemarketers with scam  
offers get better percentages than that!

I would be willing and happy to pay much more than $ 25.00 based on  
how important this work is. I see other posters talking about sending  
actual work in and having it tested. Surely the $ 25.00 fee does not  
cover this? I would suggest that besides the 25 dollar fee for those  
that just want to read the site and offer their financial support  
that you institute a much higher fee of $ 100.00 which gives you the  
ability to send in samples and a fee as well tied to the testing of  
each sample. Surely a few hundred dollars to be able to say to  
customers that my own combination of ink/canvas/varnish has these  
particular fade characteristics is worth that. And if I see a large  
variety of ink and paper test results I may be persuaded to change  
what materials I use.



Craig Yorke

On Jul 31, 2009, at 10:26 AM, mccormick.mark59 wrote:

> Hello to everyone,
>
> I want to thank Tyler for taking the time to raise the awareness  
> about the AaI&A digital print research program. The nature of  
> digital printing, especially inkjet, is that we no longer have a  
> narrowly defined material and process chemistry like most other  
> traditional photographic printing processes. The term I often see  
> in galleries, "archival pigmented print" sounds great but signifies  
> essentially nothing.  Mixing and matching printers, inks, and  
> papers creates unique print longevity characteristics. The only way  
> to evaluate these characteristics is to test the combinations  
> directly. And that brings forth an entirely new issue in this  
> modern digital age. The traditional funding model (ie, relying on  
> manufacturers) breaks down. What printer manufacturer wants to  
> support the testing of some other vendors' non OEM ink or paper,  
> and what small independent ink or paper supplier can compete with  
> the OEMs in R&D dollars spent on longevity testing, especially when  
> it has to test cross-platform but the OEMs don't?
>
> I'm most proud of the modern updated test methods I've developed in  
> the last several years. I have done a lot of cool research projects  
> in my carreer, but the I* color and tonal accuracy metric I  
> invented is, IMHO, the best work I have done to date.  However, it  
> may well be that the more overarching industry problem I have  
> potentially solved is that by opening an independent testing  
> program up to the end-user community, the AaI&A testing model fixes  
> the current independent lab business models which aren't able to  
> adequately address this "mix and match" era of inkjet printing.   
> Moreover, it creates a healthy balance between the self-interests  
> of the manufacturers and those of the end-user community.
>
> Now for some statistics. Please bear with me. I regret if it seems  
> like a crass commercial solicitation on my part. Tyler's cross- 
> post  a couple of days ago probably reached at least 10,000 unique  
> end-users of digital printing materials and processes. There appear  
> to be 9500 plus members in this group alone. His very kind efforts  
> on my behalf quickly brought about 15 new members to the AaI&A  
> program for which I'm very grateful. However, the half-life on  
> forum posts generating traffic to a particular website is probably  
> about two days. The funds raised from my 15 new members are barely  
> enough to cover the annual re-certification bill for my NIST  
> traceable radiometer I use to calibrate my light fade units. I'm  
> not complaining. I really am grateful to Tyler and to my new  
> members. But, the AaI&A digital print research program really needs  
> at least 2500 members at current subscription rate to close in on a  
> break even point, and at the current level of new members joining  
> it will take many years to get there.  It is definitely a "chicken  
> and egg, which comes first" problem as well. I need membership to  
> fund new tests, but I need a big database of interesting test  
> results to attract new members.  Yet this membership goal could be  
> accomplished quickly if about 1/4 of this group alone stepped up to  
> help the program in the next few months. That wishful thought is no  
> doubt very unrealistic, but is a target of 2500 eventual members  
> world-wide so unrealistic? Everywhere I turn in the photographic  
> and printmaking community, people seem to want to know some facts  
> about print longevity.  With this inherent interest in the subject  
> and a subscription rate of only $25, I don't think this membership  
> goal is unrealistic. Unfortunately, the issue for me isn't concern  
> about ultimate membership ranks. It is about time. The AaI&A  
> digital print research program will continue forward no matter what  
> (I'm very stubborn), but I will soon have to scale back my full- 
> time efforts and look for other work to make ends meet.  I can  
> manage both tasks of course, but solving this light fade testing  
> bottleneck for the photography and printmaking community  would  
> really get jump started if I can locate those 2500 people world- 
> wide sooner rather than later. And then we can move on to other  
> print permanence and image quality tests as well.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mark
> http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com
>
>
>
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Craig Yorke
President
Image House Digital Incorporated
5729 McCully Street
Halifax, NS
Canada B3K 1R4
P 1.902.482.1823
F 1.902.492.3128

See our new website at www.imagehouse.ns.ca




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