Eboni BO on Semi-gloss
2004-01-08 by Carl Schofield
I've been getting some excellent BO prints using MIS Eboni printed on Epson Premium Semi-gloss with an Epson 2200 (2880 dpi, 20% dot gain print space). The prints need to be sprayed with PremierArt Print Shield, both to prevent rub-off and to bring out the full beauty and high dmax (2.2) on this media. Right out of the printer, the prints will look dull and flat because Eboni is not designed for RC papers and sits on the surface (caution - will rub off easily at this point), but after the Print Shield spraying (3 coats) the prints are durable with no rub off. The prints also exhibit no bronzing and no metamerism. The sprayed prints have a smooth, soft gloss surface very similar to an air dried silver print and they appear neutral. Densitometer measurements of the c, m, y densities of a 50% gray patch were 0.65, 0.65, 0.65 for Eboni and for Epson Photo black 0.61, 0.65, 0.67 respectively. Below are links to two scans of sprayed, BO prints (approx. 8x8.5 prints) on semi-gloss - one with Eboni and the other for comparison (very warm) with Epson Photo Black ink (PK). The Eboni scan may appear to have a color cast (depends on monitor and browser settings), but there is none in the actual print. The PK print has a chesnut brown hue, but no gloss differential and also no bronzing or metamerism. There are two possible negatives associated with the use of Eboni on this paper. One is a very slight gloss differential at 100% black, but if a particular image has large areas of 100% black this can be remedied with a simple adjustment curve to limit output at 100% to about 98%, otherwise no adjustments are needed. The second negative is midtone grain that will be visible in large areas with smooth gray midtone values. Most of my images are busy landscapes where this effect is not visible, but this might be a problem for portraits. I also tried using the UC inkset with both Eboni K and Epson PK via QTR, but whenever the light inks (LK, LM, and LC) are introduced into the mix bronzing becomes a problem on semi-gloss. It is attenuated by the spray treatment, but still visible to some extent and disturbing to me in some prints (YMMV). Neither the Epson Photo K or Eboni K will exhibit bronzing when used alone and subsequently sprayed with Print Shield. The non-linear Epson driver also produces some shadow blocking in the 95-100% region, but when necessary this can be corrected by using a custom dot gain softproof profile and making simple curve adjustments. Eboni: http://www.homepage.mac.com/scho/Eboni.jpg Epson PK: http://www.homepage.mac.com/scho/PK.jpg Eye-One scans of 21 Step wedges for Eboni and PK: http://homepage.mac.com/scho/EBPK.jpg