Digital BW, The Print

In the eternal search for the holy grail, I¹ve installed a set of the UT
inks (carts) in my 1280. I¹ve been pretty happy with OPM files pushing my
2200, but I keep reading quite favorable impressions of the UT set, and my
1280 sees very little use, so what the heck. A dedicated B&W inkset makes an
awful lot of sense, and I have enormous respect for the work Paul has done,
so it made real sense to give it a whirl. Plus it would free up my 2200 for
lots of other stuff.

Right out of the box -- a couple of cleanings and a test page -- and I¹m
getting very nice prints on EEM. I am also getting nice results on photo
rag. I am, however, getting truly awful results on Eclipse Satine. (I¹m
using the newest, UT-specific curve set.) Has anyone taken a shot at curves
for that paper? I know it¹s a lame duck, but I really like it, and I bought
an awful lot of it while I could. EEM has questionable longevity, and Photo
Rag is kind of dear...any advice? I had it in the back of my mind that the
Moab line offered a nice replacement for Satine when I ran dry, and Paul¹s
recent posts on some exciting new stuff hovering on the horizon offers great
hope, too. 

Cheers,
Matthew Born



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Matthew,

>... I\ufffdve installed a set of the UT inks (carts) in my 1280. ...

>Right out of the box -- a couple of cleanings and a test page --
>and I\ufffdm getting very nice prints on EEM. I am also getting nice
>results on photo rag. I am, however, getting truly awful
>results on Eclipse Satine. ...

Try using one of the medium warm curves.  My memory is that Eclipse Satine
prints cold.

I'm sure it could benefit from its own curves, but I'm not sure if or when
I'll get to that.

> EEM has questionable longevity, and Photo
>Rag is kind of dear...any advice?

The sad reality of it all.

EEM is now rated at 100 year dark storage by Wilhelm, but the anecdotal
information is that heat and humidity can greatly accelerate it's acidic
deterioration.

I was never able to get the de-acidification companies to focus on the
EAM/EEM issue.  Preservation Technologies' spray does not penetrate.  So, it
won't affect the image, but it's effectiveness is also in question.  Wei To
has penetrating sprays that might better protect the paper, but in a brief
fade test I beleive it may have caused some slight yellowing of the image.

> I had it in the back of my mind that the
>Moab line offered a nice replacement for Satine ...

I just received some samples of that paper.  (Thanks Greg.)  I'll give it a
try as soon as I get some time.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com