Digital BW, The Print

Todd,

>Could you run through your reasoning/methodology one more time? I thought
>the smooth grayscale/step-wedge was already a good representation of a
>challenging print. I'm not sure I follow why you took the extra steps you
>did.

I think that subtle problems in prints of the 21-step test file ramp may not
be obvious in that test, but do show up in some prints.  Not infrequently, I
hear of trouble with subtle gradations where the test print from the person
looks OK.  I think we also heard the conclusion from a forum member that in
comparison with wet prints, the inkjet prints don't do well with low
contrast subjects.

So, I wanted to find a test that would show more subtle deviations in the
ramp.  The basic idea was to neutralize the ramp itself with the gradient
going the other direction, and then raise the contrast to show the
deviations more clearly.

I think the procedure works.  It might be that where someone says a print
looks odd at a certain area, taking a test print from the same printer and
workflow, this procedure would be able to identify the problem where just
looking at the ramp it is not clear there is a problem.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting exercise.  My Piezo ramp is sure far
from the perfection that some claim for that workflow.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com