Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Todd Flashner <tflash@e...> 
wrote:

(snip)
> 
> More questions:
> 
> But why is one required? Does Cone make profiles that make prints 
that match
> ICC standards, so that if your monitor is properly profiled, you'll 
get a
> good screen to print match.

Todd,

The paper profiles are not printer/ink profiles. The paper profile is 
to assure that a 21-step wedge will print the same, or close, on all 
papers. The monitor is not involved which is why you have to eyeball 
a step wedge to make a matching custom grayscale curve.

The paper profiles should allow in theory is that if you tune a print 
for say EAM and then decided to print it on William Turner, switching 
paper profiles would adjust for the change in paper. 
> 
> Is it that they do, but IF you still don't get an exact match, 
because your
> monitor isn't perfectly profiled, or because each printer and paper 
batch is
> marginally different from another, you can custom tweak it to 
perfection?

You can adjust the dot density and the gamma of each profile when you 
export to the Piezo driver.
> 
> See the distinction? Are you being asked to compensate your monitor 
because
> the profiles miss their mark, or are they providing you with a 
workaround
> for an improperly calibrated/profiled monitor? Do people who have 
well
> calibrated/profiled monitors NOT need custom dot gain curves with 
Piezo?

It is a work around but even with a calibrated/profiled monitor you 
would still need the custom curve.

> 
> Furthermore, are Cone's profiles ICC profiles that are stored in the
> Colorsync folder (on a Mac and whatever the equivalent is on a PC)? 
If so,
> why not softproof the image through the profile? I never hear that 
spoken of
> on these lists.

The profiles have nothing to do with ICC profiles nor do they 
interact with Mac or Windows color management systems.
> 
> What happens if you are working a grayscale file with a custom dot 
gain
> curve and then convert to RGB--is the dot gain curve somehow 
carried over
> into the RGB screen view?

Yes and no. The custom curve only defines the grayscale working 
space, but a conversion to RGB should maintain the values.
> 
> And what about dot density? I never hear that spoken of on the 
Piezo list.
> From page 29 of the instructions:
> 
> "Dot density is used to control the amount of ink put on the media".

That is available but rarely used. It is generally easier to just 
tweak your image on screen than to play with profile settings and not 
see the results until you print. I have used this for papers that had 
no good profile match and they are usable.

> 
> Regarding the recent discussion of getting better blacks on Eclipse 
Satine,
> would increasing the dot density be of help there?

In Piezo I used the "Unsupported Profile" with a dot density of 103-
4% and a gamma of .93-.94, but still had mild posterization in some 
tonal ranges.

See what you have been missing!

Martin