The Future of Cone/MIS B&W Inksets?

[onnect17]

Is the Epson Hot Press Natural off-white, right?

[Ken Lee]

Like others of its type, it is off-white compared to papers that have coatings and optical brightening agents. On the other hand, it's acid-free, lignin-free, 100% cotton rag.

For commercial photography where the image must be dramatic but will be tossed away at the end of the advertising campaign, such papers are probably inappropriate. For documentary or fine art photographs intended to resist fading and discoloration as long as possible, this sort of paper is probably a more sensible option.

Aardenburg Imaging is a great resource to see how different papers and inks fade and shift over time. Although different colors change differently, we can look at the average Delta E value for a quick summary of the printer/paper/ink.

[onnect17]

Thanks Ken. I forgot to check the Epson paper sampler and it was included. It's not that off as I was thinking and points toward the yellow/green. I will check the local photo shop.

[Ken Lee]

I'm not familiar with all kinds of glass, but whenever I've had something framed, the glass itself has a slight blue cast and tends to diminish the warmth of my prints. Given the irregularity of display lighting and wall colors, the whole issue is hard to control unless we show our work in a lab

[WalkerBlackwell]

I have P800 carts in now that I'm testing. There are some hiccups and QC cycles that need to happen but we hope to launch soon.

However, it does look like there will need to be some work done with the QTR dither for the new PrecisionCore heads so we are having to tackle two fronts.

There is no reason why the rest of the pro SureColors wouldn't follow. Just FYI, Piezo ink is encapsulated and has very different chemistry (and therefore plastic requirements) than MIS so it's not always going to work in every refillable ink cart out there. We do durability tests at IJM and always go back and forth to make a quality cartridge . . .

When these buggers are working on the P800, there is no reason existing IJM 3880 carts wouldn't work with a simple chip switch.

best,
Walker Blackwell
R&D @ InkjetMall