Adam Kimball (akimball@finebrand.com)
Sat, 10 Apr 1999 00:09:42 -0700
While working on some digital gum negatives tonight, I brought up a question that
I've considered many times. Why not use waxed paper negs from an Epson inkjet
for Pt/Pd, Kallitype, etc? I'm spending countless hours (and dollars) lately
working on my 300LPI imagesetter negatives- while the technology of desktop
inkjets soars. For anyone who is wondering about the quality of inkjets, check
out any news on the new Epson Stylus 750 - it is getting some very favorable
reviews from photographers on the epson mailing list...
The main issue, I've always thought is - density. Inkjet's aren't known for
putting down very dense ideposits. So, I busted out the densitometer and checked
a digital wedge - waxed in paraffin for gum.
Base: .25
90% Black: 1.92
95% Black: 2.57
99% Black 3.24
So, density wouldn't be a problem - far from it. I keep my gum negative's
highlights around 85%, so I can't vouch for the ability of my Epson 700 to
seperate these values very well - but I see no reason why they wouldn't. As for
dots, they are quite tiny on my ancient printer (well, 8 months old..) - and I've
seen drum scans of prints of the 750 which positively destroy my 700.
So, anyone out there doing work in Pt/Pd, Zia, Kallitype, Argyrotype, etc with
these printers - or must I add yet another set of tests to my list ;)
-Adam
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:39:30