Digital BW, The Print

Todd, I've also noticed that SOME times you can indeed get a perfect registration. I couldn't hardly believe it. It sure is odd you didn't
get any denser blacks with a second pass. Guess the ink was really black, no?

J








Todd Flashner wrote:

> Regarding multiple passes of the same sheet on a press, I did try running a
> print through my 1160 twice to try to lay down a denser black. First I ran
> the print through as normal, then I made a mask which allowed for printing
> only of the lower values of the print. I wanted to leave the mid tones and
> highlights alone on the 2nd pass, but double up the blacks. Good news and
> bad. Good: perfect registration (if anyone is going to try this I recommend
> you do immediately successive passes on the same printer, so that the paper
> guide and everything is exactly as it was on the first pass. Bad: no visible
> density difference. Now if I did two passes over the entirety of the print
> it'd double the density, and the whole print would be (was) a stop darker,
> but by just doubling up the blacks *I* did not see the benefit.
>
> Oh well...
>
> Now, if you could/can get exact registration on two printers you could do
> some very interesting toning effects by printing colors over quads, for
> instance. Not that any one should want to, but it does make for some
> interesting possibilities.
>
> Todd
>
> > Mark,
> > The double hit of black your referring to is accomplished by running
> > two printers (ie. ink rollers) both loaded with black ink.  In areas of
> > solid black, the additional printer lays down another layer of black
> > ink (actually beneath the main ink layer).  This effectively increases
> > the DMax by further blocking light to the sheet, and produces better
> > depth.  This method also works well when running a duotone with, say,
> > black and a PMS gray ink.  As with Piezography, the tonal range is
> > divided up between the 2 inks, the gray handles the highs, black the
> > lows with some mixing in the midtones.  Again, the gray, which goes
> > onto the sheet first, underlays the blacks in the deep shadows,
> > allowing better maximum black as in the above scenario.  The ultimate
> > print is achieved by adding still more printers with additional grays
> > to continue to divide the tonal range, and perhaps a gloss varnish for
> > the silver print look.  This is where the idea for quad black printing
> > initially came from.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Phil
> > http://philbard.com
> >
> >
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Mark Tucker" <mark@m...>
> > wrote:
> >> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Martin Wesley"
> >> <mwesley250@e...> wrote:
> >>> This leads me to wonder what you could do with a duo-ink
> >> system. Use
> >>> the black and a 50% dilution of the black.
> >>
> >> In commercial offset printing, there is a technique known as
> >> "double-dot black" printing. I did a poster in that method years
> >> ago. I don't know any of the details about it, but my guess is that
> >> it's a "budget" way to pump up the richness of the blacks, while
> >> still running one color of black only. (If I'm wrong, someone
> >> correct me here). So this would be similar to what you're
> >> suggesting.
> >>
> >> I just shot a calendar this week for a liquor company. They're
> >> known to print only b/w in their ads, and I mean one hit of black
> >> only. The designer is nudging them to try to get them to at least
> >> spring for a double-dot black, to add as much depth as possible.
> >>
> >> Also in commercial printing, there is general acceptance that you
> >> get more richness if you print at least a duotone, a tritone, or
> >> even CMYK-neutral to get the most richness out of a B/W image.
> >> It makes sense, since you're stacking up all those layers of ink.
> >> But wasn't it pretty stunning to see what just ONE hit of black-only
> >> could do with the Epson? I totally agree with you about the look of
> >> a "B/W photograph". I wish there was a way to run the Black
> >> channel at full strength, but then be able to back down all the
> >> other five inks in my 7000 to about quarter-strength, to add some
> >> richness, but also to eliminate that pesky color crossover.
> >>
> >> -http://marktucker.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
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