Digital BW, The Print

A couple of comments in this exchange reminded me of a feature (thus-
far unused by me) of a plug-in called Power Retouche Pro 
5.6:    "Black/white studio", which among other things, allows one to 
emulate characteristics of various films such as Tmax and TriX.  I 
bought the plug-in for other features, and it seems to be very good 
at what it does.  Hope this was not too far off topic.

eric perkins





--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones" 
<cj@c...> wrote:
> Hello Wendel,
> 
> >Are you shooting the digital camera as though you have slide film 
> >when you judge exposure? 
> 
> Maybe, but I don't think of it in terms of certain kinds of film, I
> just expose to get the best histogram.   I'm a long-time zonie/spot
> meter user and I think in terms of putting scene values where I want
> them.  With the digicam the histogram has replaced the spot meter. 
> Different tool, same results.  Whether I'm emulating some kind of 
film
> doesn't enter my thinking.  Anyway, my question has nothing to do 
with
> an exposure problem.  The images are well exposed and I'm getting 
what
> I want.
> 
> 
> >Since BO printing has fewer values between black and paper white 
> >than "quadtone" printing
> 
> Wendel, this is an old myth that has long since been dispelled.  The
> finest degree of division we have to work with is the 256 value RGB
> system, and BO printing is perfectly capable of rendering all of 
these
> tones.  I can move a point on a curve by 1 RGB unit and can see a
> difference in the print, it is that sensitive.  If you print the
> enhanced step wedge you'll see the same smooth ramp as any other
> system.  It will appear grainy in the midtones, as if it was from
> Tri-X compared to T-Max 100, but there aren't any abrupt jumps 
because
> it can't render the gradations.  If the viewing distance is such 
that
> the graininess isn't apparent, it will be indistinguishable from the
> others.  There are 256 values from black to white.  BO printing
> doesn't change that.
> 
> What I'm finding in my digital images is that smooth upper zone 
areas
> are being printed without the typical grainy look that I assumed was
> part of the territory for BO.  If my idea is correct about the 
driver
> responding to the film grain, even though the print is too small to
> see the grain, then this is going to open up a whole new zone of
> perception for BO printing.
> 
> A year ago I was lamenting that digital capture didn't give the Tri-
X
> look that I was so used to after so many years of using it.  That
> hasn't changed, but now that I have a decent camera and am beginning
> to do serious work with it, I'm finding I can get very pleasing
> results.  It doesn't look like Tri-X, but I like what I'm getting, 
and
> I'm just barely scratching the surface.  This definitely has my
> attention.  
> 
> I received an email from someone this morning who verified this.  He
> said, 
> 
> "I too have found that my BO prints from my 6 MP digital camera 
> are smooth, almost grainless in comparison to my Medium format
> scans, and not just in the higher tonal ranges"
> 
> I think I'm getting excited <g>.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton
> 
> 
> Info on black and white digital printing at    
> http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm