Digital BW, The Print

On 4/10/03 6:21 AM, "Timothy Hammond" <bthphoto@...> wrote:

> Hi,
> I'm just a lurker on this list, and It's clear to me that I'm a neophyte and
> can learn a lot of valuable things by just sitting back an listening. But,
> even though I have a feeling I'm about to commit a sin, I have to ask, does
> anyone have thoughts on printing B&W with dye sub?  It takes some tweaking,
> but I've gotten what I consider to be some really nice prints from my Olympus
> P-400.  There's clearly a size issue (you mean size really *does* matter?!),
> but I'd love to hear other folks' thoughs and opinions.  Thanks. --- Tim

There is no sin in getting prints that you like.  The main issues on this
list for BW prints are:

1. Neutrality--can you get a neutral gray scale without crossovers--this is
less of a problem with quad ink sets...or all gray inks than without color
inks--that's why people tend to favor quads

2. Longevity--pure pigments will last much longer than dyes--do you know
what your dye sub prints are rated for?

3. Metamerism--do the different inks that are used to make up your print
react differently to different types of lighting.  For instance when you
take a print from day light to incandescent light is there a sudden shift in
a part of the spectrum causing you to loose neutrality.

4. Dither--can you see dots particularly in the highlights or at points
where various inks kick in and out--my guess is that this would not be a
problem for dye sub because it is pretty close to pure contone printing.

Robert