Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Charles Bandes
<byronbulb@y...>" <byronbulb@y...> wrote:

> Here's what I picture (and, bear in mind of course, that I'm good at
> coming up with wishlists but darn near incompetent when it comes to
> implementing this stuff.) -
> 
> An "automate" plugin/script for Photoshop which would:
> 
> Take a "final" greyscale file as source, give choices for various
> inksets and tones, create appropriate separation files and output a
> "ready to print" file that can go straight to the gimp drivers. 
Actually that's what I do anyway. When the grayscale file is finalized
I have an action that does all the conversions and curves, then I just
print.
But I know what you mean and John would be the one to tell you how
possible that may be.
 
> Seems to me that this would probably work a lot like the PS "duotone"
> function, which applies curves and creates separations. (Actually, I'm
> wondering why we don't use that function for applying curves?)
In order for Photoshop to output to a printer, your custom tones and
channels have to be converted to RGB or CMYK, all your work is down
the drain. I find Photoshop's CMYK functions ideal since any sort of
ink can be utilized, and output.
Aparently there are other ways to hand off, assign inks to, and
recognize multipe channels with Gimp, but they are way under the hood,
or require extra steps between. Again John could comment, this is way
over my head.
For my knowledge level, if they can just give us true multiple channel
independant image data to print head flow, we'd be miles ahead.
Beyond that, I'm looking for software that lets me build complex
custom LUTs, and lets me apply them to images. If it did it's thing as
an image is on it's way from Photoshop to printer driver so much the
better.
I think that's the next step to get us beyond making and using these
nasty curves.
Tyler