Digital BW, The Print

Nick,

Thanks for the Transfer Function workflow. This is one of those 
simple things in Photoshop that either you know nothing about or you 
have enough experience that you figure it so simple you never mention 
it.

For future reference I stuck in the "Files" section in the "General 
image processing" folder.

Martin



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Nicholas Hartmann 
<POLYGLOT@E...> wrote:
> >Nick, if you ever develop a curve, let me know. I don't understand 
how to
> >make one. (for legion photomatte paper)
> 
> Jerry -
> 
> Any curve I give you is unlikely to work unless you're using 
exactly the
> same computer, printer, etc.
> 
> The principle is very simple, however: in the Photoshop Page Setup 
dialog
> you will find at the bottom left a button labeled Transfer. Click 
that, and
> you find a graph box with an (initially straight-line) curve, and a 
series
> of fields labeled 0 through 100. These, and the curve, refer to the 
amount
> of ink laid down by the printer in response to the image data sent 
by the
> file.
> 
> Here is a suggested procedure:
> 
> - Set your monitor to some standard and easily repeatable 
condition; for
> example, you could zero the contrast and brightness controls, and 
zero the
> gamma in the Adobe Gamma utility. Write down these settings.
> 
> - Print out a test file (a smooth gradient, a 21-step wedge, a full-
range
> image, etc.) using whatever standard printer settings you have 
decided on.
> 
> - Compare the test file to the image on screen. If the highlights 
in the
> test file look lighter than what's on screen, fiddle with the 
Transfer
> Function curve (or enter an appropriate value) to get the printer 
to lay
> down more ink in the highlights. Same idea for the shadows and 
midtones.
> This is a trial-and(mostly)-error process that no doubt could be 
automated
> with lots of expensive calibration hardware which I don't feel like 
buying.
> 
> - Eventually you will end up with a transfer function that largely
> compensates for the difference between your screen image and your 
printer's
> behavior with a given ink and paper and with a given group of 
settings.
> Save and name the transfer function, and apply it every time you 
print with
> that ink and paper.
> 
> -->  I remember reading somewhere that this can be done much more 
easily by
> adjusting the screen image to match a printout, then somehow 
_inverting_
> the resulting curve to create a Transfer Function, but now I can't 
find the
> reference. Anybody know how to do that?
> 
> I have no idea whether any of this would work in color...
> 
> -- Nick
> 
> NICHOLAS HARTMANN                                +1 (414) 271-4890
> 611 N. Broadway, Suite 509                  fax: +1 (414) 271-4892
> Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA                       polyglot@e...
> 
> Technical and scientific translator:  German and French -> English