Digital BW, The Print

This prior post makes me think of yet another 
variable in this whole quest to eliminate color-crossovers when 
printing "neutral B/W" images using color inks. This is how I 
approach it now; I wonder if anyone else does it this way, or has 
a better, more dependable way.

First off, I print everything through a custom profile, made for this 
paper/ink combo. In the Epson print driver, I have saved-out a 
MediaType setting, which is: 1440, Hi-speed off, and PhotoPaper 
as the MediaType. My source "working space" is always 
embedded ColorMatch RGB, because it's suited for my 
Pressview monitor. My output space is always "Tucker ICC 
Profile", which is the custom one created for this paper/ink. So in 
this area, nothing EVER changes. 

But, I can prep and tone a file in a zillion different ways. I've also 
found that even with this custom profile, the print can vary quite a 
bit from the monitor representation, depending on how I tone the 
b/w image. 

I always scan in Greyscale. Then burn/dodge in Greyscale. At 
that point, I convert to RGB to get it ready for toning. I have used 
Levels only to tone; I've used Hue/Saturation to tone. Mostly now I 
use HSB. 

I did a test where I took one image, and then cloned it several 
times on a big canvas area, and then toned it using different 
approaches. I was shocked at the output, and how much some 
of them didn't match the monitor. So now, when I find a method 
of toning that I like, using HSB, I save out those settings, and 
then LOAD them the next time. I even keep a printout by my 
machine to remind me how  a given setting will actually print. 
Sometimes, with one setting, the Saturation of the toning is just 
too strong. So I just find a setting that's a starting point, and then 
I can vary it if I want to, but at least I know basically how this type 
of toning will print.

If anyone else has an alternative approach to toning (sepia, or 
bleached, or blue), I'd like to know.

FYI: here's how I get a "bleached" look: I get the file ready, then 
tone it the normal way: say, normal sepia brown. But now, go into  
"COLOR RANGE" and select only the MIDTONES. (Use 
Command-H to get rid of the marching ants). Then, choose 
CURVES, and deepen the three-quarter tones, and then lighten 
the quarter-tones. You'll see the effect immediately. It very much 
resembles the way you can submerge a fiber print in a 
ferracyanide bath, or the Berg bleach, and watch the midtones fry 
out.

-Mark Tucker, http://marktucker.com