Digital BW, The Print

Hello Grant,

> Is this the best way to go or are there other equally valid
options?  It all seems a little bewildering!!
 
"Bewildering" is a good way to describe it.  In broad terms there are
two facets to BW printing.  One is what printer/ink/software to use
and how to use it, the other is the PhotoShop skills necessary to
produce good results.

The first part is difficult because each system is an expensive
investment and you can't know if it's "right" for you until after
trying it.  It's hard for anyone to make a recommendation because all
the approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, with often
overlapping considerations: cost, ease of use, operating system
limitations, stability of the inks, visual appearance, etc.

One approach, which I recommend, is to begin with Black-Only printing
(BO) on one of the smaller inexpensive printers for which MIS ink
cartridges are available.  It's easy and relatively inexpensive, and a
good way to get started while deciding on which of the other systems
to use.  I'm confident in saying that after six months of making BO
prints and keeping up in this forum, your knowledge will have
increased exponentially, and any decision will be made with some
real-world experience and wisdom.  In the meantime, you will be
developing your PhotoShop skills and gaining invaluable knowledge and
experience on that side of things.  It will not be wasted time or
effort.

The BO technique is explained in detail in a series of articles on my
web site (see link below).  Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm