Digital BW, The Print

Jerry wrote:

>How do [MIS FS inks] differ from the VM inkset? the Standard inkset?

The old standard MIS quad inkset was just the MIS Archival black at
different dilutions.  Among other things that I found lacking in this inkset
was that the black was not as dark as I'd like.  The Piezo black was the one
I was interested in.

The MIS VM inkset, therefore, uses a black that is essentially (if not
exactly) the same as the Piezo black.  The midtones, however, remain based
on the MIS Archival Black, with some MIS Archival color pigments in the
toner.

Piezo and VM black use a different base/solvent than the MIS archival
inkset.  The distinctive odor of Piezo inks and the MIS VM black is that
different (and very smelly) solvent base.

This different base is probably needed to get the blackness that we see in
the VM and Piezo blacks (that is, without adding dyes to the mix).

This different solvent base is also, however, needed to get the FS inkset to
"track" with the Piezo inkset with respect to the Piezo paper profiles.  If
one tried to make a Piezo clone with the standard MIS inks, the mix that
works for one paper profile would not necessarily work for another paper
profile.  So, the FS inkset needed to use a solvent base that is similar to
Piezo and thus would act like Piezo in the way it interacts with the papers.
(Do the profiles work, FS users?  Does the FS light gray [yellow position]
ink smell like the Piezo and VM black inks?)

>Why does MIS make so *_)(&**^%&#+ MANY different black inksets?

History and different goals.  I think I could have merged the VM and FS, as
the midtone densities are essentially the same.  However, my goal was a
variable-tone inkset, and others had other goals.  (Some of the other black
inks may be just artifacts of the search for the best black.)

Just wait, the number of options will keep increasing.  This technology has
a fair amount of room for more development.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com