Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "mike_nunan"
<mike_nunan@h...> wrote:
snip...
>...I can see that's an important 
> distinction you make between systems that rely upon RGB or CMYK 
> curves in PS (where effectively you're working with narrow-gamut 
> colour images) and those which use a monochrome image and do all the 
> work in the driver.

Actually that's not what I meant. I'm assuming special inks for any of
this stuff, not color inks. The partitioning you asked about, and
necessary to gain the most benifits from these inksets, is done in
photoshop on the file itself then printed with the Epson RGB driver or
a CMYK RIP. as opposed to having a special driver do that for you.

> The former gives the advantage that you can 
> create split-tone images where the tone is linked to things other 
> than the grey level, which opens up some creative possibilities. The 
> second approach theoretically allows fine tuning of the way the ink 
> patterns are applied, specifically to give better B&W quality.

The second approach allows for split toning as well depending on the
inkset. I do it all the time here with StudioPrint, the right inks,
and a whacked brain. The Septone system makes it easy to do, and I'm
sure others here can tell you how they do it with their inksets and
drivers.

> It 
> seems from your and Paul's comments that the Epson driver is still a 
> pretty good choice though.

Actually I believe I said it was ill suited to the task. But if Paul
or others have good curves available for the particular
ink/paper/printer you use you're ok.
Tyler