Digital BW, The Print

thanks, but I was really looking to do something like this:

http://www.kcbx.net/~mhd/2photo/outneg/outneg.htm

mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Jon Dubovsky 
<entropy@i...> wrote:
>  > anyone using quadtone prints as contact sheets?  The biggest 
proplem
>  > I'm having with my MIS-VM/1160 setup is getting my blacks... 
seems
>  > like a contact sheet and proper exposure would get that out of a
>  > quadtone print... anyone doing this?
> 
> Yes, I use my Epson 1280 with MIS-VM for all of my B&W contact 
sheets 
> these days.  With my Epson 2450 scanner I can scan 3 strips of 6 
(35 mm) 
> negs or uncut slides in one shot.  I lay them up, hit "scan" on 
Silverfast 
> (at 720 dpi), go start dinner or whatever... come back in fifteen 
or 
> twenty minutes, lay up the next three strips and repeat.  When it's 
done, 
> I have two big images in Photoshop, I run a recorded action to cut 
out all 
> of the space between the strips and paste them together into one 
file.  I 
> can then save the 30-some megabyte file.
> 
> At this point, I can be in a hurry and print them out at 720 dpi (a 
> standard 8" x 9" contact sheet) with some USM'ing, or I can let PS 
resize 
> upward a bit before USM'ing and printing.  The latter option may 
sound 
> odd, but I find that if I eat up all the paper I can (620 dpi gives 
me a 
> 10.5" wide sheet), the slightly bigger images are much easier to 
proof. 
> That 15% may not sound like much, but it works for me.  YMMV.
> 
> The system is so low-effort and effective (and darkroom-setup-
saving... a 
> premium at my new house) that I'm going to start using it for color 
> contact sheets.  I've done a similar contact sheet scan for both 
color 
> negatives and color transparencies, and it just as easy with the 
exception 
> of having to take one minute to set the color balance properly.
> 
> As for getting the blacks right, I don't have a problem with it. 
> Silverfast's pre-scan of the first lay-up lets clearly see where my 
black 
> and white points are.  It takes me all of ten or fifteen seconds to 
drag 
> the black and white point sliders to the right points before I 
hit "scan." 
>   I leave it alone (i.e., use the same settings) for the second set 
of strips.
> 
> Best of luck.
> -- 
> Jon Dubovsky