Digital BW, The Print

There are some new results on in the Aardenburg Imaging fade tests relating to the materials we use.  
See http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/

To see the latest full results you should pony up the fees so that we can keep this resource going.

Among other results, the 20 MLux Hours results for the 1800 Eboni 3-MK are there.  Also in the set of test results are Epson ABW, HP, PiezoTone Selenium and Sepia, as well as K6 neutral.

I must confess I was a little disappointed.  The H. Photo Rag tone shift stopped the 3MK from getting an I* rating of 100 for every patch (no other inkset did either).  However, if the paper white and the next lightest patch are excluded, all the rest got the top rating.  Surprisingly, not all the PhotoRag showed this same tone shift.  Samples of the paper clearly vary (or others were smart enough to lay their paper in the sun for a while before printing it).

If we look just at the 50% patch, so that we have a fair comparison that would include the HP Z3100 inkset and a PiezoTone selenium (where Portfolio K was used -- not a fair comparison to full pigment), the results are consistent with my view that 100% carbon is a very valid approach.  The Cone carbon Sepia and Eboni 3MK had the lowest delta E's of the group.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com