Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Cara Curreri" 
<ctb1206@y...> wrote:
> Alan,
> I just downloaded a trial version of Ulead PhotoImpact.  Will this 
do
> the trick? 
> 
Cara, I have a lot of experience with PhotoImpact, it was my first 
editor. It will convert to B&W-any editor will, but it has some 
fatal flaws for the kind of work we're doing if you decide to get 
beyond simple convert & print with the OEM inks. For one, it 
isn't 'ICM compliant' meaning you can't get it to use standard ICM 
profiles to control the printing; that will hurt your color printing 
down the road, and eliminates Jon Cone's new approach to B&W. You 
can't choose the colorspace to work in, it's either sRGB or no 
control at all; you can't do the B&W conversion via the channel 
mixer, which gives some of the best results and provides better 
control over the tonal range, and finally, you can't import the 
curves Paul Roark's workflow uses, which wipes out that whole 
approach. But while you have the trial version, try the 'Duotone 
effect, that seems to provide decent conversion, and sepia options 
to boot. If that's all you need , then it might be enough,but 
PhotoImpact has geared itself so much towards the web, that it has 
become of very limited value for serious B&W or color printing.
 I would recommend Paintshop Pro if you want all the above and lots 
of other 'bells&whistles', or Picture Window if you want a more pure 
photo editor, and as another poster put it 'haven't been 
contaminated' by the Adobe workflow/mindset. 

Regards,

Steve Karafyllakis