Digital BW, The Print

Paul,

my comments below following quotes from your message:


> >...the IJC/OPM combo ...
> >The big difference from any other bw printing solution
> >is the ability to make your own profiles and update them as needed.
> 
> This is one reason I have preferred the Photoshop/Epson driver workflow.

True, your approach offers user-controlled curves (the equivalent of profiles) 
and therefore has the big benefit of not being dependent on outside sources 
for profiles.


> 
> How does the control of the inks or curves compare to the Photoshop curves
> approach?  (Of course, control of each ink separately in a hextone printer
> would be a big improvement.)


When you adjust a file in Photoshop you rearrange the digital values in the 
image itself with whatever perils that may entail (histo combing etc). When you 
physically adjust the amount of ink that the heads put down for a given digital 
value, you have control over the print independent of the image file. Thus 
+-lighten or +- contrast or the shape of the "characteristic curve" of your print  
no longer depends on making changes to the image file.  And since internally, 
IJC / OPM do all calculations in 16 bit (whether you feed an 8 or 16bit tiff) , you 
have very precise control of the output without endangering the image data in 
any way. 



> 
> If similar curves are used, how many points does the software allow you to
> place on a curve?  That is one of the limiting factors in the
> Photoshop/Epson workflow.


The curves in IJC are "similar"  to Photoshop but not the "same as". They 
prevent you from making a sudden break. I believe you can put 20-some 
points, but have never seen the need for the limit. Most profile curves need 
2-3 points plus the 2 end points.  Sometimes 5-6 points in tough situations....



> 
> By the way, I'm doing some final testing on a new Ultra Tone (UT) sepia
> toner that will be useable in both the Epson driver workflows and the
> Bowhaus system.  It is light enough, due to the already warm nature of the
> UT gray inks, that a single toner can reach deep sepia and still be dotless
> in the highlights.  With the 1160, the sepia-toned Ultra Tone prints are
> dotless even under a loupe.


I am aware of the inks, though I haven't seen prints yet, but I am very excited 
about the possibility of a UT -based monochrome inkset. When I get a chance, 
I'll have to do some side-by-side comparisons to see how the RGB workflow 
looks dot-wise next to the OPM-based prints.


> 
> I'm waiting patiently (not very) until Bowhaus writes the software for PC.

I know.... I think there are a lot of people waiting! But bowhaus needs to work 
out any fixes first before they start porting to other  OSs. "Real" user feedback 
is what they need,  besides us beta testers. Meanwhile, for those brave 
enough to buy an old Mac as a (USB) print server, it's good to know that OS 
8.6 and 9 and IJC will run on machines as old as the 8500 (probably dirt 
cheap now, even with a USB card). 

 I'll have some curves
> (cross-platform) for those who want to use the UT-Sepia variation on the
> 1160 or 3000.

The cross-platform aspect of the curves is, of course another bonus for the 
RGB workflow at the moment. 

I actually can't wait for _ you_  to get a hold of IJC and start making UT 
profiles! These are very promising inksets and at the usual reasonable prices 
of MIS.

Regards,


Antonis