Problem with black ink

Hi Karen,

You might have been using a ‘mixing’ black and that’s why you had that result. I will usually add reflex blue to mixing black (VS310) to get a nice dark blue-black. Van Son also sells misc. blacks— VS101 and VS102 that print as solid black. Hope this helps!

Well, I am using VS101 so I suppose it should be printing darker. Perhaps I’m not using enough ink. For now, I’ll just mix in a little blue. Thank you!

Karen,
Before you start adding color you need to examine what kind of paper you are using, often a mould-made paper will print grey unless dampened or printed with a little extra ink and extra pressure. You may also need to work the ink (stirring on a slab or glass to loosen the ink) before putting it onto the press. Sometimes a really stiff ink won’t distribute well on the press. I’m not sure if VS101 is a rubber or oil based ink, but it is possible that oils or varnish could have risen to the top of the can and you may have skimmed some off which would affect the color density of the ink.

Paul

I was printing on Crane’s Lettra and Crane’s Palette (color stock). I can try to dampen those, but I’m going to guess the problem is I need to work the ink longer or dig a little deeper into the can. Thank you!!!

Karen

Karen,
Papers with a high cotton content like Crane papers often benefit from dampening, altho I can understand your reticence to do so. A good way to see if your paper would benefit from dampening is to hold the area you are attempting to print over a steaming cup or bowl of water for a few seconds, enough to soften the surface fibers (not enough to actually see moisture on the surface or enough to cause the paper to bend), then print and see if there is a difference. Some papers print better dampened, and it is just one of many tricks to better make an image transfer to the surface of the paper.

Paul