Digital BW, The Print

Friday, November 29, 2002, 6:13:36 PM, Clayton Jones wrote:

CJ> Hello Richard,

>>the 1160 quadtone prints blew the 870 BO out of
>>the water in terms of tonality and smoothness. At 
>>arms length and on letter size paper I guess not 
>>too bad but still no comparison to true quadtone 
>>I'm afraid.

CJ> I agree and would never suggest otherwise.  The point I have been
CJ> making all along is that BO printing can be a good alternative, or
CJ> temporary plateau, while the technology continues to evolve.  There
CJ> are two important issues in all of this, and I would like to restate
CJ> them here in case any new readers come across this.

CJ> 1) There are still unsolved problems with color shifting and fading
CJ> with the full ink sets.  These problems are negligible with BO
CJ> printing when using a good ink like the MIS black.  I would not be
CJ> comfortable selling a full ink print as it stands today because it
CJ> simply is going to change color.  But I would have no hesitation
CJ> selling a BO print.  

CJ> 2) There are many people who, for whatever reason, cannot find success
CJ> with all the ink/paper/driver/RIP/curve/workflow issues that one has
CJ> to fight through in order to do this.  I went through an incredible
CJ> struggle, and the few good prints I managed to make turned an ugly
CJ> color in a few months.  Then I found BO printing and am now making
CJ> stable prints with relative ease that other people, including
CJ> experienced photographers, are dropping their jaw over.  Printing is
CJ> now once again pleasurable and fulfilling.  So for me BO printing is
CJ> an excellent technique to use until the technology improves.

CJ> My motivation for promoting BO printing in the forum is that it is
CJ> fairly common to see people in dispair and frustration desperately
CJ> begging for help, and I want to offer them an alternative which may
CJ> keep them from giving up.

CJ> If anyone is in doubt that BO prints can be beautiful, my offer still
CJ> stands: send me two 1st class stamps and I will send you a signed 4x5
CJ> BO print on PhotoRag paper, and you can see the kind of results I'm
CJ> getting.  My address is below.

CJ> Thanks, Richard, for your comments.

CJ> Regards, - cj


CJ> Clayton Jones
CJ> PO Box 7596
CJ> West Palm Beach, FL 33405


Clayton,

And thanks for your points in reply.  I hope I was not seeming to
disparage your BO workflow ;-)

I agree you make some excellent points and using that workflow with
just MIS black could be an excellent and "safer" alternative, color-
and fade-shift-wise.

I am very happy with my 1160 and quadtone set-up. However a friend of
mine, who recently purchased a 1280 for color and B&W (and how no
desire right now to get a 2nd printer of quadtones going) has been
quite dissatisfied with the green and magenta toned B&W prints she's
getting from her 1280. I will be seeing her tomorrow and will
definitely be trying out your BO workflow as an excellent,
viewing-distance alternative that I'm sure she'll be quite pleased
with.

Thanks again.  I think I may just take you up on your offer....

Best regards,
 Richard  

mailto:richard@...

L i n k s  t o  m y  g a l l e r i e s:
http://fujirangefinder.com/document.php?id=246