Digital BW, The Print

Jean-Marc:

> I use PiezographyBW (latest version) with a 1160 and MIS inks...
> ....how to upgrade the system/workflow? Some of
> my prints are great, but many are disapointing from a technical point
> of view (and do not match with what I had on my screen)....
> ... should I consider the Piezography plugin obsolet
> ...s it worth to buy on ebay a densitometer...and withe it create a 
> dot gain
> curve thanks to which screen images and final prints will match?
> ...shall I invest in one of these RIP softwares (and apparently a
> densitometer like the x rite 810 is necessary, am I wrong?) and make
> my own profiles (but I use always the same papers and the same inks)?

This seems like awfully heavy going. If you follow the  instructions in 
the PiezographyBW manual and use a 21step wedge you should easily be 
able to make a good dot-gain curve that will make your Photoshop 
monitor image match your print: it's just a matter of successive 
adjustments of the dot-gain curve and will take you no more than 15 
minutes. There is no need for a densitometer.

My own experience was that it did take just 15 minutes but, that after 
a few days, I found that the dot-gain curve needed a little more 
adjustment...and after that I found that my monitor image matched my 
prints. In other words, I was a little too eager the first day. And 
that is my advice: make your dot-gain curve and then after a few days 
look at it again using the 21step wedge, and make any additional 
adjustment that is necessary. Perhaps, the first time one does it, one 
is too hasty or to excited and needs to look at it more dispassionately 
a few days later. Again, no need for a densitometer as your eyes are 
good enough. But keep in mind that the dot-gain curve can look quite 
"extreme" -- mine does.

I don't know what you mean that your prints "are disappointing from a 
technical point of view." If you have a correct dot-gain curve and your 
monitor image matches your print, and the print is still "technically 
disappointing" then the problem might be in how look at the gradation 
(tonalities) on the screen, so that you may not be preparing the image 
in Photoshop as well as you could. What I mean is that, even if the 
monitor image matches the print, the monitor image is a monitor image 
and paper is paper, so that some adjustment in your mind is necessary 
to translate onto paper exactly what you (think) you see on the screen. 
This takes some practice and experience. No RIP or custom profiles are 
going to help you with this.

PiezographyBW and the 1160 is a great combination, which I have used, 
and can produce beautiful prints. The only reason that I now use the 
ImagePrint RIP is that I have an Epson 7600 and want to make color and 
b&w prints on the same printer. But even then, I don't use custom 
profiles as I find that the ImagePrint profiles are so accurate that I 
don't need custom profiles. I try to stay being a photographer: I don't 
want to be a profile-maker.

--Mitch/Bangkok