RE: Printer for inkjet negs

I have been making digital negative on Pictorico for almost two years
with the Epson 2000P (predecessor of the 2200). The 2000P uses
pigmented inks but these are not the same as the UltraChrome system
of the 2200. With this combination I am able to easily get enough
density for carbon, kallitype and palladium. In fact a density range
(actual UV printing density) of approximately log 0.15 to 3.30 is
possible with the 2000P on Pictorico. I have not had any of the
problems with banding or smudging and the pigmented ink dries very
fast and when dry is very hard.

When printing a grayscale image with the Epson 2000P on Pictorico I
use the following settings.
        Mode = Automatic
        Media = glossy paper
        Ink = color

These settings with Pictorico give a fairly neutral tone negative
that is visually cool black and prints with a lot of contrast. I have
not bothered with spectral negatives because the pigmented inks give
plenty of density with neutral tone colors.

Although I have not done extensive testing of pigmented inks versus
dyes the few comparisons that I have made with the Epson printers
clearly suggest that the pigmented inks are better at UV blockage
than dyes, meaning that they give higher effective printing densities
when comparing output of similar color.

Someone asked me recently which colors are the best UV blockers for
spectral negatives. In general one will find that the best UV filters
are colors that are farthest separated on the spectrum from UV light,
so in increasing order of effectiveness you would have
violet<blue<green<yellow<red, with violet blocking very little UV
light and red virtually all of of it.

Sandy King

> > -----Original Message-----
>> From: Judy Seigel [mailto:jseigel@panix.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 7:36 AM
>> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>> Subject: Re: Printer for inkjet negs
>>
>> ...
>> Mostly there was no trouble with smudging or drying, but if I
>> had any doubts, a hairdryer dried the neg right away without
>> ill effects...
>
>I also dry my inkjet negatives (made with pigment inks) using a
>hairdryer. I wait around 10 mins. after printing (you can see the
>evaporation of the ?binder/solvent? in that period - this is the purpose
>of the 10 mins. wait; to let most of the solvent evaporate naturally),
>then I use the hairdryer for 4-5 mins. 20" above the negative. After
>that, the negative goes directly to the printing frame... Didn't have a
>single case of smudging and/or wiping off (I just ruined one negative
>spilling few tiny drops of water on it - hopefully inkjet negatives are
>easy to re-make)
>
>Regards,
>Loris.
Received on Tue Dec 30 08:46:04 2003