Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Ernst Dinkla"
<E.Dinkla@c...> wrote:
...
> I don't have to tell you what the possibilities are :-) On the
> other hand I got the inpression that you are no longer seeking
> the more mindbending workflows.

Oh no! I have many ideas for endless shadow chasing. For straight quad
work I would be hard pressed to beat or even meet SP's built in
capabilities, but I have many ideas to pursue that will complicate
matters satisfactorily.
Frankly, with large 9600 prints, it's nice to stay in grayscale and
not have to do all that huge 16bit CMYK work. I'm sure I'll find a
reason soon though.

> Anyway there's small applicattion in the archive that will
> convert a greyscale file into a CMYK file (just copies the
> greyscales to 4 channels and nothing else, so no black generation
> etc).

I'll try it. The last method Dan came up with in PS works very well
and maintains 16 bit info, so I haven't explored other methods.

> In the Wasatch SoftRip I have set the black generation from
> 0 to 100 %  and control the Ultratone VM only with the curves on
> top of the linearisation of the CMYK heads. Where Dan, you and
> others did most of that in PS and then loaded the CMYK file in
> PressReady etc I have done the curve separations at the end of
> the process. There's still a compromise that I can't use the
> three CMY channels together as that triggers the black generation
> (which is disturbing the straight approach of the curves) so I
> have to use CcYK or MmCcK and bring the 4th curve to zero. That
> is a limitation but it works on a PC and the rest of the RIP's
> functions are very nice.

I assume the options within the two RIPs are similar. I've concocted
some scenarios in my head that would utilize some functions in PS, and
some functions in the RIP, but haven't had time to pursue them yet.
Sounds like you are doing the same.
Frankly, since I've settled on Cone's quad inksets, I haven't looked
into the possibilities with other inksets or am even aware of their
properties, but certainly all the controls one might want are there
given some unorthodox settings and an open mind.
Dan would go nuts with all this control, probably wind up in therapy.
Tyler