Digital BW, The Print

Martin wrote:

>Could you simply stay in RGB and desaturate the image before printing?

That might work fine -- desaturate and then apply the appropriate adjustment
curve.

I guess as a practical matter, total desaturation simply turns the image
into a grayscale.  I wonder if there is any difference between that and
conversion to grayscale mode and then back to RGB?  With an image with, I
assume, little color information in it anyway, I'm not sure there is much
difference between the various methods to turn the image into a monochrome.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Jerry wrote:
>
> >It doesn't matter WHEN you convert to rgb,
> >the file just has to in that format when you print it.
> >You don't have to convert it first to grayscale!
>
> Jerry, I think this could be a problem in this context.  As I
understand it
> the originals are old photos.  They often have some color, including
> yellowing, stains, etc.  As such, that color might affect the
variable-tone
> allocation of inks, resulting in some weird tones or color casts.
>
> The recommendation to scan in RGB, even if the ultimate product is
a B&W, is
> often to get as much bit-depth as possible.  This recommendation was
> commonly made some time ago when most scanners only had 8-bit B&W.
With
> higher-bit grayscale scanners, I think most would now recommend
scanning in
> high bit g/s if the original is strictly a B&W.
>
> However, there may be another reason to scan in RGB for old
photos.  The
> color information can help in eliminating the stains.
>
> In any case, I think you should go through a g/s stage to be sure
you are
> not carrying color information over to the final printing RGB.
>
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com