Digital BW, The Print

Scott wrote:

>     I'm using Jim Nevins curves with FS MIS inks in an 1160.  I 
> continue to have problems with dark images.  After the curve is 
> applied the images print very dark.  If I lighten the image with 
> brightness, contrast or a tonality adjustment, it results in a flat 
> image with blending of the grays, little contrast and a very 
>digital look.

Scott:

Lumped workflows, such as John Woolf's or Jerry Nivins' where the C, 
M, Y position inks are lumped or mixed together in approximate equal 
proportions across the grayscale range, yield essentially a two-tone 
ink system –- black and gray.  These lumped workflows can produce 
fine quality prints, however they are not dotless in the lighter 
tones (especially noticeable under a loupe) and sometimes shows 
vertical banding in the shadow areas.

To get around these limitation, a partioned RGB workflow can be used.
An RGB curve set is applied to the image and partitions (or assigns) 
each of the four inks to applicable overlapping ranges of grayscale 
values.  Thus the lightest ink prints the lightest portions of the 
gray scale etc. yielding essentially dotless highlights and lighter 
tones using the Epson driver.  Examples of partitioned workflows 
include those developed by Paul Roark, Chris Brandon, and others. 

Hope this helps.

Jeff Randall