Digital BW, The Print

Chris,

My favorite way to print is to use 100% cotton content bond paper, like a
Strathmore bond in 24# weight. You have to watch how much ink you are
putting down but you get a very fine delicate print. It is more like a
gravure. Like the ones that Edward Curtis made in the early part of this
century on fine Japanese tissue paper and the vellums. They were all hand
pulled and very fine. I have collected originals of his over the years.
Printing with the Epson 3000 and the quad ink set comes the closest to those
fine prints I have been able to produce. I differ in that I am using neutral
tone inks B&W and not his red sepia tones. That color does not work for my
material. Fine printing is just that, fine printing and there are many ways
to achieve a desired result. The accepted pattern of workflow methods and
materials is not the only way to achieve an artist goal.  These cotton bonds
do not have the chemical coatings of the offset sheets that make the blacks
soft and gray in the shadow areas. Coated commercial printing papers do not
work at all with inkjet inks. But there are a few commercial matte coated
papers that do take the ink properly and come in a variety of weights. They
are considerably cheaper and readily available through paper merchants. At
the very least they are a good way to proof images with out wasting the
expensive papers. If you are talking glossy finish, that is another ball
game. Only papers made specifically for ink-jet printers will do.

Charlie Dennis
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Chris Hargens [mailto:chargens@sbcglobal.net]
  Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 7:10 PM
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Digital Negatives


  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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  - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
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YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE “OWNER” AND
“MODERATORS” OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY
DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS,
GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE  “OWNER” AND
“MODERATORS” OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY
TO USE THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR
ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY
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MATTER RELATING TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP.



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