Digital BW, The Print

For the last week, the emails have been about so much tech stuff that is over 
my head, my delete button finger is getting a good work out.  My questions 
are basic.  Do I want to do digital B&W prints?  How does it work with my 
images?  Does it provide a voice to my vision? How much time and money am I 
willing to spend to learn to use digital output? 

My opinions on digital B&W prints change from day to day.  One day I like 
them the next I prefer the prints of the wet darkroom.  I think I may 
continue to straddle the fence for a while to come, maybe never commit 
totally to one process.  I have worked with alternative printing methods 
before and they seem to be the best for some projects.  This may be the case 
with the quad inks.  But the one thing I have found for sure is that it takes 
time, just like it did in the wet darkroom. Just like the wet darkroom you 
need a big trashcan.  I have been told that I make good wet prints so the 
learning curve is easier this time with digital because I know what I want to 
accomplish but the problems are frustrating.  

I hate equipment problems....printer clogs, dead HD, finicky CD-RW drives, 
scanners, software, etc. Getting it all to work and to work together is a 
miracle.   Learning how to use PHotoshop is still a challenge but using it 
doesn't turn me on like working in the wet did.  But the bottom line is this 
is another part of the craft....I've got to plug thru it, make it second 
nature so I can get on with making it another tool in my toolbin because I 
dream of small books or portfolios.  It seems like the digital process if 
well suited to some of these ideas (if I can get it all to work together.)

Sometimes on this e-group, it seems like everyone is trying everything. And 
there are so many variables that you can't necessarily compare your workflow 
to another's workflow because equipment, software, hardware vary.  But I 
think that the only way to get the craft behind you is to master ONE thing, 
one ink, one printer, one paper.  Then when you know what the boundaries are, 
then you can make an informed decision about the next step.  And, of course, 
pray daily to the nozzle gods for clean nozzles.

I would like to say a special thanks to Jim Hayes for giving me some advice 
about a CIS that had air in the lines.  Thanks to his help, I got the 1160 
back up and running and I have just completed a set of 13 prints on A3 for a 
show in Provence this Fall.  

Billie


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