Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Todd Flashner <tflash@e...> wrote:

> Tyler this raises some questions for me. Do you think this is enough to have
> you use the Piezo driver more in the future? If not, what in your workflow
> do you prefer? Is it mostly for pride in craft, in feeling good knowing
> you've built your system on your own, preference for habit; or are there
> visible benefits to your workflow, in your prints, to your eyes.

I ask myself this regularly, and double checking against the Piezo driver is certainly something I do from time to time 
though I hadn't done it with Zees. Because PressReady puts down so much ink, and because I can make K a bit richer by 
adding another ink to it, I feel more confident I have maxed out the ink/paper Dmax capability. The difference is not great 
though. There are many different "dotless" ways to make many of the grays by how the inks are combined. Since the inks 
are very slightly different in hue and react to the coatings to varying degrees, I have a print color I slightly prefer. Am I 
seeing what I want to see because I'm reluctant to abandon years of work? Quite possibly, I'm probably not the objective 
judge.

I ask, not
> to put you on the spot in any way, but to help me sort out where I stand in
> the face of this revelation.

No no! these are important questions I try to honestly ask myself.
I have yet to see a quad output of Zees that doesn't have some little "problem". The niggles in mine are simply different 
than the niggles in the Piezo output, so given the above I'll stay with my workflow for now.

> tangible, that I'm not considering, that outweighs some of the benefit of
> discretely separated boxes and Zees? Do you know what I mean?

I hope so, did I?
Since Martin asked me some time ago to post my workflow, and because people find useful tidbits in workflows that are 
otherwise irrelevant, I did post it. I don't recommend it though, if you like the look of Piezography. I mean really, why 
bother? For developement with other inks, perhaps it's more relevant.
I already had the tools, some grasp of the workflow, and an obsession with getting under the hood (as Martin puts it). Had I 
not arrived at something I prefer, I hope my family and friends would have staged an intervention by now.
Really, I'm more concerned with creative output (what? you don't believe me?). When step wedges and Zees emerging from 
my printer were replaced by images it was a happy day. But I was the same way in the darkroom, and talented friends that 
bought off the shelf chemcals and papers produced amazing work with very standard procedures still couldn't make me 
stop this crap. I guess we all have to go about it our own ways...
Tyler