Digital BW, The Print

I, like many others, have had all sorts of difficulties spraying RC paper prints. (I have tried 
Lyson Print Guard which people tend to believe is the same thing as Print Shield.)  I really 
don't think it works very well and is horrible on images with great expanses of deep black 
- read mottled blacks and trapped dust.  But the recent glop dicussion begs the following:

Could someone like MIS develop a Print Shield like coating and instead of putting it in an 
aerosol can put it in a refillable ink cartridge?  Our printers are already capable of precise 
spraying of ink, how about a protective coating?  Any RIP/driver could be used to "spray" 
an already printed image.

Thoughts?

Hard to believe only two weeks have gone by and no remembers I just 
reported on this issue;  The MIS R800 gloss optimizer works quite 
well in a cartridge, and does an excellent job of eliminating 
bronzing and increasing Dmax, without the mess and noxious fumes of 
the canned products and lacquers. It does not provide quite the 
physical protection of Printshield, but is nonetheless quite 
worthwhile for the benefits it does provide. Keeping some in a cart 
and switching for batch coating would be fairly easy, though it 
would require flushing the K head with Windex or something similar 
before the coating so no K ink mixes into the coating. Even if that 
doesn't work for you, using a $20.00 model-making airbrush and 
spraying it on is very easy, the coating is easy to get on evenly, 
in one or two light coats. One big caveat: This stuff works well on 
semi-matte, lustre, and glossy RC PAPERS, but not on matte, and not 
with Eboni ink. It does fine with UC inks and the PK or even 
MIS 'Universal K'.  If anyone was to see a sample of it, email me 
off-line. I'll send out a few for the price of postage.

Steve Karafyllakis

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Kale" 
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
> 
> I, like many others, have had all sorts of difficulties spraying 
RC paper prints. (I have tried 
> Lyson Print Guard which people tend to believe is the same thing 
as Print Shield.)  I really 
> don't think it works very well and is horrible on images with 
great expanses of deep black 
> - read mottled blacks and trapped dust.  But the recent glop 
dicussion begs the following:
> 
> Could someone like MIS develop a Print Shield like coating and 
instead of putting it in an 
> aerosol can put it in a refillable ink cartridge?  Our printers 
are already capable of precise 
> spraying of ink, how about a protective coating?  Any RIP/driver 
could be used to "spray" 

> an already printed image.
> 
> Thoughts?

Steve

Read my original post again.

Steve

> From: Steven Karafyllakis <steve@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 23:38:20 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Coating prints-why not?
> 
> 
> 
> Hard to believe only two weeks have gone by and no remembers I just
> reported on this issue;  The MIS R800 gloss optimizer works quite
> well in a cartridge, and does an excellent job of eliminating
> bronzing and increasing Dmax, without the mess and noxious fumes of
> the canned products and lacquers. It does not provide quite the
> physical protection of Printshield, but is nonetheless quite
> worthwhile for the benefits it does provide. Keeping some in a cart
> and switching for batch coating would be fairly easy, though it
> would require flushing the K head with Windex or something similar
> before the coating so no K ink mixes into the coating. Even if that
> doesn't work for you, using a $20.00 model-making airbrush and
> spraying it on is very easy, the coating is easy to get on evenly,
> in one or two light coats. One big caveat: This stuff works well on
> semi-matte, lustre, and glossy RC PAPERS, but not on matte, and not
> with Eboni ink. It does fine with UC inks and the PK or even
> MIS 'Universal K'.  If anyone was to see a sample of it, email me
> off-line. I'll send out a few for the price of postage.
> 
> Steve Karafyllakis
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Kale"
> <stevekale@b...> wrote:
>> 
>> I, like many others, have had all sorts of difficulties spraying
> RC paper prints. (I have tried
>> Lyson Print Guard which people tend to believe is the same thing
> as Print Shield.)  I really
>> don't think it works very well and is horrible on images with
> great expanses of deep black
>> - read mottled blacks and trapped dust.  But the recent glop
> dicussion begs the following:
>> 
>> Could someone like MIS develop a Print Shield like coating and
> instead of putting it in an
>> aerosol can put it in a refillable ink cartridge?  Our printers
> are already capable of precise
>> spraying of ink, how about a protective coating?  Any RIP/driver
> could be used to "spray"
>> an already printed image.
>> 
>> Thoughts?
> 
> 
>

The confusion here is my fault. I've been thinking about Print Shield 
mostly in terms of its ability to reduce/eliminate bronzing rather 
than what it does in protecting prints. For me, any protective 
coating for RC papers is probably not worth using if the bronzing 
problem is not addressed either through that coating or by some other 
means. For that reason I've been thinking about what might be the 
best way to apply glop -- if a spray application doesn't have 
problems with mottling, blotches, etc., then it may be the best route 
for someone, like me, who only owns a 2200 and doesn't want to go 
through the hazzle of filling and switching carts to coat. Again, as 
you point out Steve, this doesn't address the issue of protection. In 
this regard I suspect that carts loaded with nonwaterbased products 
with chemical properties similar to Printshield might damage the 
print head...just a feeling. That's why I'd be interested in hearing 
reviews of some of the other water-based inkjet coatings that are 
being used. 

Chris Hargens



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale 
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
> Steve
> 
> Read my original post again.
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> > From: Steven Karafyllakis <steve@s...>
> > Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 23:38:20 -0000
> > To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Coating prints-why not?
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Hard to believe only two weeks have gone by and no remembers I 
just
> > reported on this issue;  The MIS R800 gloss optimizer works quite
> > well in a cartridge, and does an excellent job of eliminating
> > bronzing and increasing Dmax, without the mess and noxious fumes 
of
> > the canned products and lacquers. It does not provide quite the
> > physical protection of Printshield, but is nonetheless quite
> > worthwhile for the benefits it does provide. Keeping some in a 
cart
> > and switching for batch coating would be fairly easy, though it
> > would require flushing the K head with Windex or something similar
> > before the coating so no K ink mixes into the coating. Even if 
that
> > doesn't work for you, using a $20.00 model-making airbrush and
> > spraying it on is very easy, the coating is easy to get on evenly,
> > in one or two light coats. One big caveat: This stuff works well 
on
> > semi-matte, lustre, and glossy RC PAPERS, but not on matte, and 
not

> > with Eboni ink. It does fine with UC inks and the PK or even
> > MIS 'Universal K'.  If anyone was to see a sample of it, email me
> > off-line. I'll send out a few for the price of postage.
> > 
> > Steve Karafyllakis
> > 
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Kale"
> > <stevekale@b...> wrote:
> >> 
> >> I, like many others, have had all sorts of difficulties spraying
> > RC paper prints. (I have tried
> >> Lyson Print Guard which people tend to believe is the same thing
> > as Print Shield.)  I really
> >> don't think it works very well and is horrible on images with
> > great expanses of deep black
> >> - read mottled blacks and trapped dust.  But the recent glop
> > dicussion begs the following:
> >> 
> >> Could someone like MIS develop a Print Shield like coating and
> > instead of putting it in an
> >> aerosol can put it in a refillable ink cartridge?  Our printers
> > are already capable of precise
> >> spraying of ink, how about a protective coating?  Any RIP/driver
> > could be used to "spray"
> >> an already printed image.
> >> 
> >> Thoughts?
> > 
> > 
> >

No confusion.  Some are already using glop to get rid of bronzing.  Carl
Schofield, for example, already has a full set of glop curves for use with
his FSN/UT2 setup including a workaround for an OS-X issue.  But this is not
the same thing as protecting a print so that it doesn't need to sit behind
glass.  Print shield's primary use is for this.  But its application is a
hazardous affair with mixed results.  Hence my suggestion as to whether it
is possible to design a protective coating that can be laid down by a
printer rather than a spray.

If you want to use glop - just use the printer to put it down, pure and
simply. But you then still face the task of protecting the print.

> From: Chris Hargens <chargens@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 00:34:49 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Coating prints-why not?
> 
> 
> 
> The confusion here is my fault. I've been thinking about Print Shield
> mostly in terms of its ability to reduce/eliminate bronzing rather
> than what it does in protecting prints. For me, any protective
> coating for RC papers is probably not worth using if the bronzing
> problem is not addressed either through that coating or by some other
> means. For that reason I've been thinking about what might be the
> best way to apply glop -- if a spray application doesn't have
> problems with mottling, blotches, etc., then it may be the best route
> for someone, like me, who only owns a 2200 and doesn't want to go
> through the hazzle of filling and switching carts to coat. Again, as
> you point out Steve, this doesn't address the issue of protection. In
> this regard I suspect that carts loaded with nonwaterbased products
> with chemical properties similar to Printshield might damage the
> print head...just a feeling. That's why I'd be interested in hearing
> reviews of some of the other water-based inkjet coatings that are
> being used. 
> 
> Chris Hargens

I just ordered a 4 oz bottle of glop and 2 pk virgin empties from 
MIS. You mention that Carl Schofield is using curves for his 
application of glop. Are such curves necessary or is printing a 100% 
black image adequate? As for Print Shield, I think I've solved the 
problem I was having with mottling and blotches. I wasn't letting the 
print dry completely before applying the spray and I wasn't spraying 
lightly enough. Even so, I strongly agree that at best it's just a 
step towards a real solution to print protection.

Chris 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale 
<stevekale@b...> wrote:
> No confusion.  Some are already using glop to get rid of bronzing.  
Carl
> Schofield, for example, already has a full set of glop curves for 
use with
> his FSN/UT2 setup including a workaround for an OS-X issue.  But 
this is not
> the same thing as protecting a print so that it doesn't need to sit 
behind
> glass.  Print shield's primary use is for this.  But its 
application is a
> hazardous affair with mixed results.  Hence my suggestion as to 
whether it
> is possible to design a protective coating that can be laid down by 
a
> printer rather than a spray.
> 
> If you want to use glop - just use the printer to put it down, pure 
and
> simply. But you then still face the task of protecting the print.

Carl's curves lay down the glop at the same time as the image is printed.
It puts down a flat percentage of glop which would suggest an overcoat could
also work fine.  By using QTR to control the inks/glop, though, you can
control accurately how much is put down.  I think Carl found that an ink
limit of 20% was about right.  If you are using the Epson driver you might
want to experiment a little with the colour density slider starting with a
significantly reduced density.  Also just to ensure the Epson driver doesn't
fire any of the other inks select Black only.

> From: Chris Hargens <chargens@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 18:12:55 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Coating prints-why not?
> 
> 
> 
> I just ordered a 4 oz bottle of glop and 2 pk virgin empties from
> MIS. You mention that Carl Schofield is using curves for his
> application of glop. Are such curves necessary or is printing a 100%
> black image adequate? As for Print Shield, I think I've solved the
> problem I was having with mottling and blotches. I wasn't letting the
> print dry completely before applying the spray and I wasn't spraying
> lightly enough. Even so, I strongly agree that at best it's just a
> step towards a real solution to print protection.
> 
> Chris 
>