Digital BW, The Print

Not sure if this will help but here goes.. I have what for me has been a solution for the most part helping bring out shadow and highlight detail for the purposes of making a better print.. Shadow and highlight detail is kind of like a stairway to me.. As you get into the highlights and the shadows the stairs seem to get closer together so change is much less visual.. My solution to this has been thru custom scanner input profiles.. and for me it has really made a difference. 

The process goes like  this.. After scanning your scanner target save it off as master after making a copy of teh image ..I have developed a set of curves that I then apply to the scan image the purpose being to open up specific areas of density in different amounts and in different places on the total curve.. Using these modified target images I then build a set of scanner input profiles.. ..Something similar to this has been done before ( Joseph Holmes)  so it's not new but this way is a spin off of it.. I use these on my Tango and Nexscan flatbed.. In my situation using Linocolor I can select any one of these and see the results prior to executing the scan.. so it's just a matter of selecting the one that makes the best improvement .. I made a set of 17 of these things but really only use about 10 of them.. When I first started fooling with this I was trying to cause change after the scan.. When I switched to this route it just opened it up for me.

jimbo

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Paul 
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 5:59 PM
  Subject: Re: [Digital BW] When is DMax not Dmax?


    


  Thanks to both of you, Ernest and Eric,

  Eric, what you say makes perfect sense, Dmax is Dmax. Let me amplify my question a bit more:

  I'm interested in shadow detail of my final print, that is, in the print I want Dmax in some of the shadow but some detail in parts of the shadow. This would correspond to lighter areas of the negative, right? But scanner specs don't show that, they show Dmax in the negative. Like you say, Dmax is Dmax. And so the scanner specs give me information on how my highlights might look like in the print - and of course I'd like some detail there too, I don't want them blown out. But it looks like typical scanner specs can't help me with detail in the print's shadow areas.

  I think I've got a handle on this. I suppose if I'm interested in detail in the thin AND dense parts of the negative I could deal with this in my scanner software. Am presently on a learning curve with VueScan.

  Thanks again,

  Paul

  --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "E.Neilsen" <e.neilsen2@...> wrote:
  >
  > Paul. The Dmax is Dmax.; the maximum density of dark (densest) area. It
  > does not matter whether it is a positive or negative, the real material has
  > an area that is the darkest. Whether it prints as a positive or a negative
  > is up to the user later. The scanner doesn't know and the software doesn't
  > know until you tell it. But Range is an important aspect. However, with
  > multiple scanning being possible it does still have relevance. If your
  > scanner can't see it, it doesn't exist. = areas with no detail. 
  > 
  > Eric Neilsen
  > Eric Neilsen Photography
  > 4101 Commerce Street, Suite 9
  > Dallas, TX 75226
  > 
  > www.ericneilsenphotography.com
  > skype me with ejprinter
  > Let's Talk Photography



  
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