Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "pr_roark" <pr_roark@...> wrote:
> 
> Whether its "worth" dealing with third party inks depends a lot on one's interests and criteria.  For me, the OEM approaches are not worth it.  But I have several personal goals that push me in the directions I go.  Some are quality related, but one is simply taking the road less traveled.
> 
> The OEM entrance into the B&W field with K3 systems, I assume, took most of the market, and I'm sure most people are perfectly satisfied with the results.  But the dedicated B&W approaches continue to serve several significant market segments.  
> 
> The inksets I've designed, some of which are sold by MIS (no royalties to me -- I'm just a customer) serve several different market segments and personal goals.  At one end and as a matter of principle, I want those on restricted budgets to have excellent B&W, easily, and at very low cost. The C88+ "EZ" system is at this end of the spectrum.  Yet the C88+ with the 100% carbon inks can produce a print that I believe to be more stable than anything the OEM systems can produce. 
> 
> The UT14 was aimed at making a variable tone inkset that could print on matte and glossy paper without changing inks, giving people who are interested in exploring B&W more seriously a very affordable 13" platform to easily experiment with different tones and papers.  It's what I think of as today's version of the UT2 which was made for the 1280. Yet on my 1400, I have not run UT14 for quite some time.  I use an inkset on the 1400 that serves the specific needs that I have.  
> (See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eb1400.pdf)
> 
> 
> My personal B&W fine art printing, such as I was doing all day on an old 7500, is strictly 100% carbon -- Eboni-6 or Carbon-6.  In part as a matter of principal, I simply will not have color inks in my workflow any more.  For most people the color inks in the "Advanced B&W" mode will probably never be of any consequence, but I don't want them in my work for a number of reasons.
> 
> The Eboni-6 or Carbon-6 inksets I use do have some quirks that make them more touchy in some respects, but less so in others.  One size does not fit all.  
> 
> I recently purchased a used 7800 and fully intend to use that platform for 100% carbon printing -- likely with a home made (dirt cheap) CIS (positive air pressure should make CISs work better easier).  So, between a user-made CIS and user mixed inks, the used K3 (and K2, maybe without the CIS) printers should be able to make B&W prints at a fraction the cost of the 7900, and they should have un-paralleled image stability. 
> 
> I'm hopeful that the 8 carbon inks and QTR will allow me to print on Arches uncoated watercolor paper more smoothly and with a better dmax than the OEM approaches, and 100% carbon on Arches is about as close to my "carbon on cotton" ideal medium as I think I can get.  (And it's going to be a lot of fun exploring tinting & painting with watercolors with my painter as well as photographer friends.)  
> 
> So, it's clearly "worth it" to me to do what I do, and the OEM approaches are not "worth it" -- to me.  
> 
> I hesitate to recommend what I do to others.  I'm just pursuing my particular ideals and goals, and having too many follow me on the road less traveled is not necessarily a positive result, but I will nonetheless make what I come up with public.  I think it advances the medium and its acceptance, and that does help me.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>

I have been following Paul's black and white odeyssey a while now and wholeheartedly agree with his ideals and goals. I am committed to pure Carbon black printing on archival, pure cotton papers with no brightening agents added.  I use a C88+ with Eboni MK at 100% in the K position and diluted to 2%, 40%, and 15% in the C, M, Y positions respectively.  For dilutions, I use the generic base described by Paul at his website.  The paper is Arches hot pressed watercolour (smooth) that I buy from an arts store as large sheets for around $5 per sheet, and cut to size (C88+ can print upto 8.5" x 44").  For software I use Gutenprint with Cinepaint (16 bit printing) on NetBSD, or home-made ACV curves on CS4 to adjust ink densities with the help of an X-rite 880 colour-densitometer.  Gutenprint gives me complete control over ink mappings at the nozzle level (which can get a bit messy if you make a mistake!).
The matte only prints I get are quite satisfactory with subtle tone differences depending on how I partition the the three dilutions.  I just bought an R1900 from Epson refurbished and am in the process of replacing all the eight carts with generic Hong Kong carts and pure carbon ink at various dilutions - am debating whether to put eight dilutions for matte only or maybe put a couple for glossy along with the rest for glossy/matte.
I got inspired by Paul's adventures in pure carbon printing, so I say, thank you Paul and don't stop!
Unny