Digital BW, The Print

Della,

> If you really believe that canned shadows cause
> compression then it is an indication of your scan
> quality. I once had shadow compression. Then I
> switched to professional scans from a Screen drum
> scanner and now a Hell drum scanner. Mike, you owe
> your work this favor of using a drum scan made by a
> scanner operator.

Della, have you ever seen my work?
You really don't know what you are talking about. I never said that canned
shadows cause shadow compression. I said that if you look at what the Piezo
driver does you will see that it IMO compresses the shadows. Print out a 21
step wedge and read the densities on a densitometer. Next compare them to
the densities on a Stoffer Step tablet. I think you will find out that the
shadows are compressed.

I am not using the Piezo driver so I have no problem with compressed
shadows. I use a professional level RIP. I also own a Howtek D4000 drum
scanner. I scan in RAW mode with white and black points pushed out to 0 and
256. I capture all detail there is to capture as far as the scanner is
capable. I have has "professional" drum scans made. My scans are superior as
they do not clip data.

> How do I know this? Because what you call "canned
> profiles" is an indication of your input failure. The
> Cone profiles print lighter at 99% than they do at
> 100% which is full black. 98% is still lighter than
> 99% and so forth. Each % tone is separate and distinct
> so that there can be no compression. It can not be any
> other way. Please try a drum scan made by a
> professional. It makes it so much difference. If you
> do not believe this, you owe it to yourself to make a
> test pattern of 100 grays to verify it. You will love
> the difference that a scan can make.

Of course the 99% patch is lighter than the 100% patch, so on a so forth.
But until you measure them against a known standard in densitometric
readings you have no clue as to what they are supposed to be.

> But if you have professional scans than something may
> be wrong with the way you treat your shadows in your
> imagework. Did you follow the calibration instructions
> from the manual?

Once again, I have no problem with shadows using a professional RIP.
Please do not take my statements out of context. Read them carefully and try
to understand what I an saying before you respond.

Mike