David, Paul,
thanks for your very valuable advice - this already helped me refine my approach. Some thoughts in reply:
@ David, Paul, re K2: when doing the test chart print with QTR in calibration mode, the 100% K-channel maxes latest at around 40% and is from then on indistinguishable from the denser values. My reasoning at this point is to not leave the shadows to the K-channel but to identify a shade that pushes that max point beyond 40% (my individually perceived max point). When I look at David and Paul's K2 (also Paul's other ink set formulations) 30% seems to be the maximum possible. I conclude that this is general consensus based on testing different dilutions for K2.
@ David, re 3rd party pigment for CMY: I don't want to bust my printer / prints with bad quality pigment :-) My personal challenge is that I live in Germany and don't have access to good quality 3rd party ink products at fair prices as you have with e.g. MIS. Quality third party inks available here cost literaly about twice as much. I also don't know about a source for outdated OEM inks. Therefore my careful step-by-step spending approach. I got good shipping rates from Michael at Precisioncolors, but haven't heard from him quite some time. I hope he is doing fine.
@ David, Paul, re light C/M: thanks for the advice to use LVM and LC instead of M/C. I see in Paul's K5 article that you even do custom dilutions, e.g. 30% Magenta.
Best Regards,
Amin