PIEZOGRAPHY CARBON INK

Carbon K7 on Canson Rag Photographique

Our Carbon ink has the distinction of being the most lightfast ever tested by Aardenburg Image Archives. Given the length of exposure received, it is the only Black & White ink to outpace HP, Canon and Epson.*

I did not design this ink to be many magnitudes more permanent than Canon, Epson and HP inks. The secret of this ink rests in pure carbon expertly ground to specified tolerances and encased in a micro-encapsulation of acrylic co-polymer. If fade-resistance is the essential criteria for you – this is the ink set for you. Everything else is a compromise.

Carbon inks are formulated so that color tone *ab values are very close, resulting in a very linear, photographic warmth. Like our Neutral ink set, this produces a reflection of color tone to the human eye that traverses the entire tonal range. It’s a very precise way to express a Carbon photograph.

For the pure aesthetic beauty of carbon, I use it in my own work. I have settled on making it even warmer by choosing a paper that accentuates its warmth. Canson Rag Photographique is warmer than Jon Cone Type 2 paper.

Now all of our Piezography inks are both matte and gloss compatible. I’ve used Carbon on the baryta papers with MPS Black shade 1 and Piezography Gloss Overprint. The combined dMax and shadow detail is amazing!

_{* As of 2010. (As of 2016, it’s the most archival ink except the recent Canon Lucia. Other Piezo ink-hues top all other inks but Lucia baring other factors such as paper emulsion and paper pollution issues.)}