Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Antonis 
Ricos" <antonisphoto@y...> wrote:
>  > Your  "histo-wrecking" comment makes me wonder if it is 
not 
> > better to back up and do things in the color channels before I 
> > convert to greyscale. 
> 
> 
> Lincoln,
> 
> if you start with rgb scans, and follow proper color 
management, you have the option 
> of doing a lot of work in that mode before dropping to gray. My 
point was to make 
> you aware that going from rgb to gray is essentially a 
profile-to-profile conversion, 
> and choosing each profile carefully (in the color settings of PS)  
can improve the histo 
> of the final file.

Antonis,

I go out of my way to get the best scan I can wring from my 
scanner. I scan at 16 bits/2880 res. and save in Adobe RGB.  It 
has been suggested by other BO printers that retaining Adobe 
RGB 1998 throughout, allows  the best print results.   
Sometimes the nature of my slides do not allow for good focus 
in the default center and I rescan  with a selected focus point.

 PS 7 does not allow me to use layers in 16 bits .  Some of the 
B&W conversion methods force me to use  8bit layer channels 
for ultimate control.  I try to do what I can in 16 bits , and will not 
change to 8 bits unless I have to use a layer or jaypeg the image. 
It may not make any diff' but I want to save as much info as 
possible.  If I can get the effect I want with a simple channel mix, I 
stay in 16 bit mode.  

I'm beginning to "see" the b&w image in the color image and I 
am starting to tweak the color settings to take advantage of the 
effect I like best.  Looking at the last histos', I can find no clipping 
or "picket fences".  It is interesting to note that manipulation that 
make a color image look good  very often helps the resulting BO 
image.  I guess  colors are not a complete distraction; we really 
see the underlying composition and structure :-)

If I just print what I like on my monitor, my BO prints with 
Eboni/1280 are a little washed out.  So, I do a little "front end"  
tweaking by increasing the contrast about +15 and USM at 200. 
This usually gives me a very good "pre-tweak"  likeness. 

Thanks for you informative remarks!

                         Lincoln