Digital BW, The Print

Alessandro,

While others on the list know more about this than I do, I find that 
experimenting with a layer copied from the image set to various modes 
(i.e., overlay, softlight, hardlight, etc.) really can increase 
contrast and provide depth to a flat image.  You can play with the 
opacity of the layer and get a good deal of micro control by using 
the eraser itself set to various levels of opacity.  I find that 
virtually every scan from my Nikon LS 2000 with B&W film requires at 
least on layer of this sort.  I often find that have to erase some of 
the overlay in the deeper shadows to maintain detail.  I just insert 
the layer and then try a number of modes untill I get one that I 
like.  The downside is that it has to be done in 8 bit mode, so 
layers and curves adjustments have to come first.

Steve


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Alessandro Pardi 
<alessandro.pardi@i...> wrote:
> I've read both tutorials (scanning and getting real blacks in the 
print).
> The main point in the post-scan workflow is not to set white/black 
point, as
> this "stretches" all tones and may result in posterization and harsh
> midtones: you should keep the image as comes out of the scanner, 
and work
> locally to darken shadows until they reach black (and, I suppose, 
lighten
> highlights until they reach white).
> It makes sense, but I think it heavily depends on the image itself 
and the
> film used: with my Canon I found that silver B&W film generates 
scans where
> setting BP and WP is a small adjustment, whereas Portra400BW 
(chromogenic)
> generates very low-contrast scans (the histogram is very narrow) and
> therefore leaving the scan as is yields very flat images.
> OTOH, I don't think you can increase contrast in a scan at hardware 
level,
> all you can do is change exposure (but this should only 
lighten/darken the
> image), so if a scan has low contrast, all you can do is set black 
and white
> point with your s/w (maybe not to 0 and 255).
> Then again, all this extra-care in being very gentle with your 
pixels may
> turn out to be (practically) invisible in the final prints.
> 
> Any opinions/experiences?
> 
> Alessandro Pardi
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Julian Thomas [mailto:julianthomas@t...]
> > Sent: martedì 25 febbraio 2003 9:57
> > To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [Digital BW] HWM v. EEM v. HPR, was: HWM rated more
> > archival than EAM/EEM !?
> > 
> > 
> > I've been doing this for years now, but 'I've only just 
> > started reading and
> > following JC's tutorial on shadow detail - there are just 
> > sooo many tricks
> > to learn!
> > 
> > Julian
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <bob@b...>
> > To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 2:33 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Digital BW] HWM v. EEM v. HPR, was: HWM rated 
> > more archival
> > than EAM/EEM !?
> > 
> > 
> > > Alessandro & Julian: Thanks, I will try your suggestions as they
> > > really make sense. I have to agree that so many of my 
> > printing issues
> > > and questions come back to basic use of Photoshop, an area 
where I
> > > still need improvement.
> > > Bob Michaels
> > >
> > > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, 
> > Alessandro Pardi
> > > <alessandro.pardi@i...> wrote:
> > > > Hi Bob,
> > > >
> > > > one reason might be that the image hasn't 100% blacks. You can
> > > verify it in
> > > > Photoshop: if the darkest parts of the picture, those 
> > that should be
> > > pure
> > > > black, with no detail, even read 1 or 2 rather than 0, you're 
not
> > > getting
> > > > the best blacks in the final print.
> > > > As someone else posted not long ago, checking this is worth 
as a
> > > standard
> > > > routine before printing, but the more so when comparing 
papers.
> > > >
> > > > Hope this helps,
> > > > Alessandro
> > > >
> > > >  -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Bob_Michaels <bob@b...> [mailto:bob@b...]
> > > > Sent: domenica 23 febbraio 2003 0:18
> > > > To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> > > > Subject: Re: [Digital BW] HWM v. EEM v. HPR, was: HWM rated 
more
> > > archival
> > > > than EAM/EEM !?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Truman: This is amazing. I pulled out an image I just 
> > printed on all
> > > > three papers. Critically comparing the HPR and EEM prints 
side by
> > > > side, I simply can see no difference in the blacks, 
> > shadow detail or
> > > > highlights. And, the base of the EEM is very slightly 
> > whiter than the
> > > > HPR. All different from your observations. Maybe they vary in
> > > > production batches. Anyway, very puzzling.
> > > > Bob Michaels
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
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> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, 
Polls and
> other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:
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