OT: White Laser Toner

[Rich Grise]

Really? What color is a "yellow" pigment, when
viewed in a transparent container?

If it's translucent, the colour of the background (whatever's behind the
container) minus (most) blue. If it's opaque, the colour of the
illumination minus blue. If it's between, then some combination of the two.

To be sure, the characteristics of the paper contributes
to the final color, but to say that a "yellow" pigment
transmits yellow light while blocking other wavelengths
is a misleading.

In order to function as the "Y" in "CMYK", it needs to transmit yellow
light while substantially attenuating blue light[1]. It may also
happen to reflect some light, but that isn't necessary for it to function
as ink or toner. Too much reflection would make it unsuitable for
making transparencies.

For printing on white paper, reflection is equivalent to transmission;
for transparency, reflection is equivalent to absorbtion. If there's no
reflection, you get the same results for both paper and transparency,
which is a desirable property for general-purpose process-colour (CMYK)
inks.

Well, the way to tell is for someone to get some clear plastic and print
some yellow on it, and report. Probably wouldn't hurt to print a whole
bunch of colors, then post pix of it with various backgrounds and stuff...

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Bob Myers]

In order to function as the "Y" in "CMYK", it needs to transmit yellow
light while substantially attenuating blue light[1]. It may also
happen to reflect some light, but that isn't necessary for it to function
as ink or toner. Too much reflection would make it unsuitable for
making transparencies.

For printing on white paper, reflection is equivalent to transmission;
for transparency, reflection is equivalent to absorbtion. If there's no
reflection, you get the same results for both paper and transparency,
which is a desirable property for general-purpose process-colour (CMYK)
inks.

Well, the way to tell is for someone to get some clear plastic and print
some yellow on it, and report. Probably wouldn't hurt to print a whole
bunch of colors, then post pix of it with various backgrounds and stuff...

Of course, to show evidence for the original assertion - that
the pigment itself would "pass yellow light," you would have to
place on that clear plastic nothing but the yellow pigment itself -
no carrier or solvent. In other words, a layer of pure pigment.

Bob M.