Digital BW, The Print

Recently I was asked to print a limited edition portfolio for a local photographer.  I was given 18 images saved to CD and supposedly ready for printing. No muss no fuss.  As I began to print these equisite images, I began to notice that the prints had very subtle banding in the midtones and less dense shadow areas. A quick check of the histogram revealed the infamous "Fingers of Death". A quick nozzle check revealed that I had no clogs and the patterns were fine. Since I switched to MIS FS inks, I have rarely had any clogging of my Epson 7k.

I asked the photographer if he worked his images in 16 bit mode. He replied "sure I always convert to 16 bit after all the work is done and I am ready to save the file". Jeez, another favor gone bad. Without going into detail I took the negatives and re-scanned them on my drum. I made selections on 8 bit file copies and inserted them into the 16 bit file. I made all curves and level adjustments in 16 bit mode and never once converted to 8 bit until the image was finished and I was ready to print.

The final images are free of all artifacts and any banding whatsoever.

The key here is to develop techniques to allow for all manipulations to be done in 16 bit mode. Working in 8 bit mode results is too much data being thrown away.  Especially those new to B/W digital printing and working with Photoshop, learn good working habits and techniques. Your results will speak for themselves.

Mike


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