Let's reverse engineer inkAID coating...

[PViapiano]

At $23/pint or $85/gallon, it seems ridiculously exorbitant for something that lets you print on art paper or other surfaces. It can't be rocket science at work here, so what do you think is entailed in mixing up a DIY batch...?

[Peter De Smidt]

http://www.t2f.nu/t2frapp_f_180.pdf

[Nathan Potter]

Peter thanks. A most interesting paper. I think the OP may find that obtaining the raw ingredients in small quantities may be expensive, not to mention the development needed to obtain a suitable surface. Two of the key ingredients (vinyl alcohol and silica) are readily available from multiple sources but will vary considerably in dilution and particle size respectively. Calcium carbonate can be used in place of silica but the powder particle size varies greatly so one may need to do some home screening or elutriation column separation. I think wettability to the paper is an issue so I suspect that a bit of detergent would be added to the coating mixture but limited enough to avoid excessive subsequent ink spread.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Peter De Smidt]

Those interested might check out Paul Roark's work on uncoated art papers. This requires a special DIY ink base, specific papers, as well as using QTR to print. D-max is in the mid 1.5s. http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Arches.pdf