Even printers that use their black cartridges for image printing, have to rely on a halftoning-like process to create different shades of gray. The result of either technique is grayscale images that sorely lack the rich blacks and smooth even tones of a nice photographic black and white print. In some cases, grayscale images can even print with a color cast (usually green, though sometimes pinkish).

To print high-quality monographs and coffee-table books of black and white prints, professional printers typically use several different shades of black ink in a multipass printing process. Just as normal process color printing involves multiple passes (usually four) of a page through the printer to create a full range of color, multipass monochrome printing uses multiple passes of a page through the printer to achieve a full range of gray tones.

Quadtone ink sets allow you to perform the same types of printing on your desktop inkjet (though you can do it in one pass). Quadtone ink sets typically include a solid black ink and several tints of black –usually 75%, 50%, and 25%. With these multiple cartridges, your printer can create richer blacks, more intermediate grays, and highlights that lack visible dithering or dot patterns.

As with archival inks, most Quadtone inksets are designed for particular printers. And, like archival inks, many Quadtone ink sets produce prints that are much more lightfast than the normal dye-based inks used in your printer. Prints from many QuadTone ink sets are rated to last 20+ years without fading. Most Quadtone inks are compatible with your stock printer driver, though some include special plug-ins for black and white printing, and you should have no trouble freely switching between Quadtone and normal inksets.

Finally, all vendors recommend the use of specific papers for best results (in some cases, the wrong paper will result in completely puddled, unusable prints), and ink vendors provide detailed lists of paper recommendations and availability.

Check the table below for links to more information about quad tone inks for specific printers.

Currently, the main vendors for quadtone inks are MIS Associates, Piezography, and Lumijet. Check their web sites for lists of currently supported printers.

A partial list is provided here.