Digital BW, The Print

Hello Bill,

>Also blacks without meaningful density 

To the contrary, because the blacks are rendered with 100% black ink
and not a mixture of black and gray (as _some_ methods do), the BO
blacks are the most dense available, equal to any other method that
uses 100% black ink for the blacks (when you have a solid mass of
black ink there are no dots to be seen, so it is no different than any
full-ink method at that point).  The most common remark I get in
response to my sample BO prints is "Wow! What stunning blacks".

(I'm not comparing to silver prints, just responding to BO vs other
digital printing methods using the same ink)

At the same time, one of the most common errors that people make which
prevents them from getting good blacks (whatever the printing method),
is that the blacks in the image are not truly black.  Often what
appears black on the screen is often RGB 3 or 4, instead of zero.  So
it pays to check these areas with the densitometer in PS.  I've had a
lot of feedback from people who reported finally getting good blacks
after bringing those areas down to RGB 0.

One cannot get good prints with _any_ technique when working "without
thought".  BO is no different.  Assuming good results are desired,
printing with the BO method does not allow one to work without
thought.


>Even an Epson 2200 using matte black alone is poor in 
>comparison, however using ALL inks it can be great.

I have a 2200 as well as my trusty 870, and I find that its BO results
are as good as the 870 (better in some ways because at 2880 the dither
banding is eliminated and minute details are sharper).  If the Matte
Black blacks are unsatisfactory, it's because it is a warm color ink,
not because it's a BO print.  Again, BO blacks are equal to or better
than what other methods produce, given the same ink.


>Just  compare one to a silver gelatin darkroom print (well made 
>of course).

If you are comparing pigment inks to silver prints and want to use
disparaging remarks, fine.  But don't use that as an excuse to dump on
the BO technique.  It's blacks are surpassed by none.  You can't get
any blacker than 100% coverage with 100% black ink.


Regards,
Clayton


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