Digital BW, The Print

>Sam,
>	Thank you very much for those clear answers Sam. Of course I 
>am afraid, as
>is often the case, answers often prompt further questions. You stated you
>cannot use the Roark's curves from within Photoshop Elements but you do
>mention that you once printed b&w by mistake without curving the image, I
>take it this implies that Photoshop does allow you to put some kind of curve
>on the image even if it doesn't allow the application of Roark's curves
>(Incidently I can not say that without thinking of it in terms of an old
>physics or Mathematical law).

Sorry I wasn't clear. Photoshop gives you access to curves (Paul's or 
your own or someone else's); Photoshop "loads" your chosen curve for 
you, from a list you click on, thereby changing the image. Photoshop 
Elements does not give you access to that feature of Photoshop. It 
was Photoshop from which I inadvertently printed without a curve 
(despite the fact that I was trying to learn how to use the MIS VM 
Sepia-Neutral quadtone inkset).


>Incidently I think I must be using the newer pigment based inks in my
>printer because I am getting pronounced metamerism on my black and whites
>and this seems to be a problem brought in to a much greater degree with the
>pigment based inks (well that is just guesswork, they may not be pigment
>based at all but just a newer ink solution as used in the 2000P which is
>being famously criticised for it's colour casting).

The 2000P does use pigment inks and is criticized for metamerism. But 
it can be a problem with dye-based ink prints too. And my guess is 
that you're more likely to see more of it when printing with only the 
black ink.


>Whatever if anyone has any views on that then I would be much 
>obliged. I am using the 5 colour T008 cartridges as used in the 890 
>(I am saying that as my model is an 895 which
>doesn't seem to exist in the States).

The Epson web site for the States lists for the 890 sold here:

>Ink Cartridges 	 	Black Ink Cartridge 	T007201
>  	 	Color Ink Cartridge 	T008201

which makes me think you have these dye-based inks in your 895 too 
since the first three digits in these codes match the ones in your 
previous e-mail.


>I will invest in photoshop asap and look to a couple of books on the
>subject and leave you guys in peace until I have learned enough to
>contribute usefully to the debate.

The "Real World Photoshop" book strikes me as a good idea, because 
without what you can learn from it, I think it's hard to follow what 
you'll see on the lists. I'd consider looking for a used copy of 
"Real World Photoshop 6" to use for a few months. Photoshop 7 and 
"Real World Photoshop 7" will be out this summer. So will the first 
edition of "Real World Color Management". By the time this course of 
study is finished, I think we'll have access to new systems for 
quadtone printing, a C80 + CIS, for example, and maybe a big brother 
to the C80 from Epson.

Sam