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Re: [Digital BW] How to get neutral B & W prints

2014-11-01 by tyler@...

First a side note, some here are replying to threads in some way yahoo's "new" web presentation does not like, therefore entire posts are empty of text. So, forgive me if there have been issues addressed I have not seen and am repeating. Obviously there are 3rd party B&W inks intended to address hue and other issues to optimize B&W output. I favor that approach, but right now I'd suggest exhausting the options with the printer you have, then moving on if you require higher performance. I had a 6350 on loan for a month and have some experience with it. The B&W output options in the plugin should yield pretty good results, as does the ABW driver for Epsons. It uses far less color inks in the image. As I see suggested, it would not be optimized for non-supported papers, therefore hitting neutral may be a trial and error PITA. It certainly is with ABW.
Some mentioned the lack of interest in the B&W world for "neutral" as a worthy goal, and this would carry over into the 3rd party inks as well, few of them set that as their design priority, or achieve that. "Pleasing" has always been a subjective goal in B&W, both darkroom and ink. So the Canon B&W output may not have been designed specifically for that either, though I don't recall seeing really problematic casts.
The only approach attempting to hit neutral, actually, is color managed color printing. Unfortunately, ink use is not very for B&W output, and the higher colorant component risks more metamerism failure, and now we're back to the viewing and lighting issues others have mentioned. Additionally, color profiling has a lot of tradeoffs to balance when building a profile, obviously perfectly neutral B&W is not necessarily high on the list as opposed to other color matching issues. Extended target profiling like Data Color and spot optimization in i1Profiler may address those issues.
So for niche B&W options, 3rd party drivers have been great for B&W ink, but again, hitting dead neutral is generally not the goal, placing control of your print hue in your hands, with more options intended for B&W enthusiasts, is. So, given the user controls, you may find "neutral" with some tweaking, or many other print hues you will be happy with.
As stated, QTR does not support Canon, but True B&W does, and it's a great tool, definitley worth trying in demo. But again, I doubt you will find a "default" neutral option. All the tools for you to learn and pursue that will be there though. There will be work to do.
I think your options are to thoroughly master the B&W abilities in Canon's plugin, attempt extended gray color profiling using the color driver, and demoing True B&W. If none of that pans out, look at an Epson/ 3rd party ink option. But again, as hitting dead neutral is not a priority with any of these options, except perhaps color profiling, you're on your own to find it, once tools are in your hands to achieve it.
My apologies if all this has been covered in other posts, visible or invisible.
Tyler

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