Digital BW, The Print

Mark wrote:

>Paul wrote the 7000 curves based on a PC. ...

Yes, the Mac needs a revised set of curves.  The system is definitely not
plug & play until the set of curves is written.  Writing the curves is
difficult if you haven't done such things before.  Once one gets the hang of
it, it's less of a problem.

I have been writing the curves as people get the systems.  This is a new
inkset, so the process has not been done for the 7000-Mac combination yet.
What I do is make adjustments based on e-mailed scans of test prints.  It
takes a number of iterations of this process.  However, since we have sorted
out the settings for the 7000, it shouldn't take too long.

So far, I've just seen one set of test strip scans from a 7000 and Mac.
They were not too far off, and they were consistent in the tonal
distortions, so it is probably just the expected platform differences.  I
know of no reason the 7000 and MIS VM inkset won't work with the Mac just as
well as it does with the PC.

>... the prints had an overall look of VERY long tonal range;
>many greys. But no real punchy black, like my MIS color dyes
>had just shown. ...

The black ink in the MIS VM (variable tone) mix is essentially identical to
the Piezo black.  In my view this (Piezo and MIS VM) is the best pigmented
black.  It is darker than the MIS color inkset black.  It is not as dark as
dye blacks -- no pigmented black can be with today's technology.  When one
opts for pigments, it's a trade-off between ultimate black and longer print
life.  The Piezo/MIS VM black, however, is very good.

This appearance of weak blacks is the same issue Piezo users faced after
coming from systems that compressed the shadow tones.  The Piezo software
for the 3000 and 1160 used a straight-line characteristic curve.  So does
the variable-tone system -- at least the curves I'm writing.  I think the
straight-line curves make the most efficient use of the original file's
dynamic range.

So, the issue of the appearance of blacks is really a matter of what one
does to the file.  You can apply an "S" curve to the file and you'll get the
punchy-black look that is just the same as if the driver did it for you.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com