Digital BW, The Print

Thanks, Charlie, for all the information. I agree with all the points 
you've made as well as the theory behind them. As for the prints I've 
been making with various quadtone sets on matte paper so far, I'm 
reasonably happy with some and unhappy with others. I like the look 
of the Ultrachromes when printing BW, but I don't like the problem 
with metamerism (as well as the slight bronzing when printing on 
glossy papers). 

Chris Hargens

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Charlie Dennis" 
<scprints@b...> wrote:
> Chris,
> 
> Just a few things you should consider when making your negs for 
prints in
> the way that you want, on your printer.
> 
> Sorry these are so long.
> 
> 1. any problems that you have making ink prints on your printer 
will also
> hold true for making a neg off the same device. It will be no 
better than
> the prints you make. Anything that can and does happen to your 
prints will
> happen to the negative plus the time you will spend in the darkroom 
finding
> out if the negative is any good.
> 
> 2. Making a negative in a printer is an additive process to a 
substrate. It
> is not an exposure process to a coated material and then applying a
> subtractive process that is both chemical and physical.
> 
> 3. The image on the negative produced by the image setter is 
controlled by a
> high end laser that is calibrated and tested every day for accuracy 
and
> consistency
> 
> 4. The dots or random spot of the image setter can be much finer in 
its
> resolution than anything that a printer will be capable of 
producing. The
> spot it produces can be the equivalent of a 600 line per inch 
screen value.
> That is a spot smaller than the size of the silver crystals in the 
film you
> use in your camera.
> 
> 5. Control and consistency on the negative is a standard operating 
procedure
> of the process when the image bureau creates a film that is 
readable with a
> target chart and densiotometer.
> 
> 6. There will be no blocking of values at either end of the scale 
of the
> image setter neg. It will have more information than your printing 
paper
> will be able to record.
> 
> 7. You will be less at the mercy of inconsistent neg. because of 
density
> problems and clogged heads of a print device with an image setter.
> 
> 8. If you inkjet prints are lacking in the snap that you want, then 
the
> negative you create on it will more than likely lack something 
also. The
> fact that you are printing to a silver print paper will not solve 
all that
> you are looking for in the print. If the print is flat the negative 
will
> also be flat produced in the same way.
> 
> I for one have never been a fan of any additive process. It has 
never proven
> to be as consistent and accurate as a subtractive system in 
reproduction. In
> the graphic arts industry, system after system of additive 
processes has
> been dropped or revised always in favor of the easier to control 
subtractive
> and exposure systems.
> 
> I am not saying the negative from a printer will not work or will 
not be
> usable, but it will depend on the investment of your time and 
testing you
> put into it. The shorter way will be the image setter if you are a
> perfectionist for technical detail.
> 
> I would be pleased to see how your efforts turn out. If you have a
> densitometer to read both reflective and transmission values of the 
print
> and negatives you will make your life a lot easier when making 
adjustments
> to your finished work.
>   Charlie Dennis
>    -----Original Message-----
>   From: Chris Hargens [mailto:chargens@s...]
>   Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 10:06 AM
>   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
>   Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Digital Negatives
> 
> 
>   Thanks, Randy and Charles, for your advice. If I go the digital
>   negative route, I'll be using my 2200 to make them. According to
>   Burkholder the 2200, along with the 7600/9600, "gives the best 
negs
>   on the desktop yet." I've read that for silver printing, as 
opposed
>   to platinum, imagesetter negatives are superior to those from 
inkjet
>   printers, but I haven't heard anything to suggest that inkjet
>   negatives noticeably lower in quality.
> 
>   Chris Hargens
> 
> 
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