Digital BW, The Print

Ed Mathews wrote:
> Thanks to Joe and Matt who replied and said,
>
> "You don't need PS, but you do need a graphics program that allows
> you to use the PS curves supplied by Paul Roark and others.", and
> "You need a program that understands photoshop curves (*.acv)."
>
> I guess a big part of my problem is that since I don't use PS, I
> don't know what the photoshop curves really are.  I'm using Thumbs
> Plus, which I love, and it also gives me great looking color prints
> from my computer on my 740 (as opposed to PhotoDeluxe and MS Picture
> It which often don't).  If the "curves" are various degrees of
> adjustment of contrast, RGB color, gamma, etc, then I can do all of
> that in Thumbs Plus.  But I doubt it understands any .acv file, so
> does that mean I'd have to essentially make up my own curves to get
> the proper prints looking like I like?

The curve adjustments go way beyond the sort of control you have with
ThumbsPlus. Without these controls -- and the many others built into a
capable image editing program -- you are missing out!

> My limited understanding thus far is that I'd essentially just be
> replacing the color chambers with various shades of black ink, so
> shouldn't I be able to adjust the image color myself and get the
> proper highlights, midtones, and shadows?  I'm expecting to waste
> some paper and ink of course.

The main benefit of the quad-grey system is that you can print light
tones without dark dots. With Paul Roark's workflow and MIS-VM ink in
an 1160 printer (and Photoshop) I was making good quality prints almost
straight away. I think if you spend money on Paint Shop Pro, instead of
piles of paper and ink, you'll come out ahead -- better results,
sooner, and with less frustration.

> I should mention that I plan on using my 740 and the MIS inks for
> printing digital images taken with my D100, which would then be
> converted to B&W by desaturating the colors (If I was shooting film
> I'd just go ahead and print the thing optically and save myself all
> this trouble).  So the images will start (and stay) in the sRGB
> color space. I've been able to get really nice B&W prints this way
> using color inks, but the metamerism is the major problem.  If I
> save the image desaturated, then apply very slight degrees of
> magenta, I can get it looking very neutral under florescent or
> tungsten light, but in daylight it's still slightly green.
>
> So in summary, what I'm trying to do is shoot an image with my D100,
> desaturate it and save it as a B&W (still in sRGB color space) using
> Thumbs Plus, Adjust the highlights, midtones, and shadows by using
> the color adjustments in Thumbs Plus, then print it on my 740 using
> MIS Quadtone inks.  Does this make sense?

There would be no harm in trying that. But I think you stand to get
better results, and get better control of the digital workflow, if you
use a program and a workflow that are better for the job.

Would you like to send me a file -- I can print a small MIS-VM sample
and post it to you?

Peter Marquis-Kyle
Brisbane, Australia