Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "karo"
<m_narlen@h...> wrote:
...
This is subjective. I'm not sure what you mean by the quality you need
to achieve, even though I've seen many Adams, Mapplethorps, and many
more. The LEVEL of quality possible is only limited by the talents of
the print maker. But the PARTICULAR print qualities may be unique to
the materials.
I still think the two mediums are different. The very best silver
prints I have seen and the very best inkjet prints I've seen are
different. They don't compete with each other any more than silver and
platinum do. One is not expected to rise to the level of the other,
they have unique qualities.
If the excellent prints you saw were not good enough for you, and my
sense of what you are after is correct, I suspect you should stay in
the darkroom.
There are things you can do in Photoshop that darkroom workers can
only dream of, but the best silver work out there most certainly did
not suffer for the lack of Photoshop, they exude perfection.
Though I commited to quad printing for myself, there are many I think
should stay in the darkroom. Another option might be digital negs on
silver papers, or lightjet like Fokos. Could you personally achieve
this elusive quality in the darkroom? Why change? Is it because of
digital capture and you need output? Shoot film, works great.
Tyler

> Hi,
> I am a professional photographer and for a while now have I been
looking into printing 
> black & white good quality digital black and white images. I read
much material and I saw 
> many samples. Some of these samples I saw where done with Quadtone
inksets and the 
> results were excellent. The problem is that excellent is not good
enough for me. I saw 
> samples that were as good as prints on RC paper but I need higher
quality than that. I do 
> not care about the cost but I must have a system that meets my
demands. Some folks 
> were suggesting a system that involves a RIP and quadtone. What it
today's VERY, VERY 
> BEST technology for digital black and white printing? I am not sure
how many of you 
> actually saw an original Ansel Adams or Robert Mapplethorp print.
This is the quality I 
> need to achieve. Thank you for your insights.
> Ken