Digital Black &White
Printing Information Index
www.PaulRoark.com
As shown above, the color tones of carbon pigment prints can cover a wide range. For more on the above print tones, click here.
The major ink sellers, of course, are well aware of the stable nature of carbon, but for the large markets they serve, relatively neutral carbon is not practical. Among other things, there is no relatively neutral carbon that is glossy compatible, and the large companies target high-gamut glossy printing, not B&W. To make a relatively neutral print from the very warm carbon they must use, inkset designers for the large companies use color pigments to cool down the carbon. These color pigments might be blended into the ink mix. But, this does not eliminate the weaknesses of the color inks. The use of colorants with the carbon has the same problems whether it is mixed with the carbon or separate.
The dedicated B&W inksets makers typically blended the colors with carbon to eliminate the obvious color dots. I did this for a number of years with the inksets I designed. It made for some nice looking prints and very flexible inksets. However, I noticed that while my inksets could easily beat the OEM B&W inksets with respect to fading, they were plagued by color shifting. I could slow the problem by using the best available color inks, but ultimately I knew the prints were doomed to color shifting. These prints will look fine for a number of years if the light level is not too high, but that was not good enough to satisfy me. For me, the solution to the problems introduced by color inks is to simply eliminate them. For B&W, they are simply not needed.
The most neutral carbon I've found -- and thus use -- is the MIS Associates matte black "Eboni" pigment. By using this matte-paper-only carbon pigment, B&W printers who do not need glossy or color printing are able to achieve results that are not available from the usual commercial inksets. When framed under glass or acrylic, these matte carbon pigment prints can look very much like my darkroom silver prints -- but better in most cases.
Most of the inksets discussed here are available through MIS Associates, with whom I have no formal connection. I have simply made the inksets that I want to use or think will help the B&W market. MIS has, in the past, been very helpful and supportive of my B&W inkset development, and I assume it's been in their financial interest. Most B&W inksets, including those from MIS, are not 100% carbon. These are listed on a separate page. Below, I summarize the MIS inksets that are 100% carbon pigments.
Some of the inksets discussed here are open-source and can be mixed by users, and some use Hewlett Packard Z3100 Vivera Photo Black pigments that are widely available, but are also not 100% carbon.
The inksets discussed below are suitable for a number of Epson inkjet printer models.
My current inkset approach uses MIS Eboni-6 for relatively neutral B&W printing on matte paper and, in my 7800, MIS K4 warm carbon inks, which can print a sepia tone on glossy paper. The warm (sepia) carbon inks will be featured in an upcoming Elverhoj museum historic photo display for the Solvang, California centennial celebration.
While I favored 100% carbon printing for the most lightfast and stable prints, the best of the blended color + carbon systems are performing reasonably well in Aardenburg Imaging & Archives fade testing, which is the best and most detailed available to us. For most uses and users, the top quality blended ink approaches will be fine. Still, however, one can expect density and color changes (as measured, for example, by the midtone "delta-e" values) of the carbon + color B&W prints to be from several to many times those of prints made with 100% carbon pigments.
For more information on carbon printing stability, click here.
For B&W, carbon is king.
At some point -- and we may be there with the 100% carbon pigment inksets -- the paper becomes the limiting factor in image longevity. In this regard, Arches uncoated watercolor paper may be of particular interest. It has stood the test of time, having been used by artists for about 500 years. The lack of a coating makes it harder to print on, but there is no coating to flake off or crack. It can even be washed or rinsed to some extent. While there are other un-coated watercolor or art papers, Arches Hot and Cold press have the deepest blacks (highest dmax) by a significant margin in my testing. On the other hand, Arches is harder to print on, the dynamic range is less, and the images are not as smooth. Moreover, we have no good fade tests that show whether images on it are as permanent as the coated inkjet papers. In fact, tentative results suggest the best coated matte cotton papers make the most lightfast images, and that is what I favor for most of my images. However, Arches, as well as other un-coated art papers, can be serious alternatives that collectors and artists may want to consider.
Note that the silver prints of the past were neither cotton nor, due to the use of acidic processing chemicals, could they be buffered against acid attack. I have observed yellowing of my silver prints due to airborne acids.
"Carbon on cotton" (particularly buffered and with no OBAs) defines, in my view, the paradigm for archival B&W printing.
For more information on this 1800 "3-MK" workflow, click here. See also the February 2008 issue of Shutterbug magazine, reproduced here.
Although I have not tested the 1900 with this workflow, it should work very well.
The 1800 3-MK approach and profiles can be ported to the Epson 1400 rather easily by anyone who knows how to re-linearize QTR profiles.
The 1400, with several inksets, appears to bring top notch 13" wide printing to a more affordable level, and it is now my primary printer, except, of course, where the 13 inch wide paper limit is too small. The Eboni-6 inkset, discussed below, is currently on my 1400 and what I recommend most highly and will support most going forward.
MIS sells the dilute Eboni both in bottles and in pre-loaded Epson 1400 cartridges.
For details on the "Eboni-6" 100% carbon pigment inkset, click here. Eboni-based inksets have been used by me for about 4 years and been the most clog-free inksets I've ever used.
For the C88+ version of Eboni-6 and Carbon-6, click here. A C88+ with Carbon-6 is about the least expensive and easiest to care for B&W printer possible. And the images are 100% carbon pigment; so they'll have state-of-the-art stability. Just remember to agitate the CIS if one is used. My non-technical daughter is in her third trouble-free year at college with a C88+ and CIS with C6 "EZ" in it -- all year on a single initial fill.
The same "C6" clear dilution base and approach appear to work well with the HP Z3100/3200 PK pigments. This approach can be used to make a variety of inksets, including the dilute neutral gray inks that are glossy and matte compatible.
The C6 inkset base is composed of just a few common, readily available, economical, and safe materials. Because the cost of the dilution base is so low, the cost of the dilute inks can be very low even when relatively expensive inks are used in the mix. This is because dilute inks are mostly just water.
These inksets must be considered experimental. So far, I have seen no problems with these inksets that relates to the C6 bases I describe.
For details on these inksets and user mixing, click here.
The dilute Eboni inksets discussed above can be printed with either the Epson driver or QTR.
In my view, the most convenient workflow for Windows users includes
an easy to make ICC in the Photoshop or Elements Print Preview.
For a tutorial on making B&W ICCs with a flatbed scanner,
click here.
This list includes some inksets that I would not now recommend for fine art printing, but they have been very well received by the vast majority of users.
A brief description of how I use the DataColor/ColorVision PrintFixPro/Spyder spectro,
Washing Arches watercolor paper,
Possible way to hold printer chips in place without the need for a cartridge,
Large format 100% carbon-pigment prints in Epson K2 printers to match R1800 Eboni prints,
Printing 100% Eboni carbon B&W plus color with the R800 and R1800,
QTR, 2200, 4K+, Matte BW, Carbon & general monotone inkset curve profiling,
(The most recent QTR workflow notes, above, are now my prefered approach and what I'd recommend to the extent they use different settings than the notes below.)
QTR, 2200, 4K+Ccm, Matte BW profiling
Sample 4K+, IJC, Split-tone profiling
Making B&W ICCs with a Flatbed Scanner and Gray Card
Selected Canon (and comparison) lens MTF curves
Paul Roark
Solvang, CA, USA
www.PaulRoark.com
